Endeffera
by anime animal
Summary: Finally Completed as anime animal's birthday draws to an end! The story turns full circle as Hyrule once again indulges in its favourite winter festivity- The Hyrule Tournament. Traditional taster of the Endeffera sequel, Blood of the Hero, included!
1. The Darkness

Disclaimer: As per usual. I don't own Zelda. Nintendo do.

A.N: Hey howdy hey, I'm back! Whoop whoop whoop! Exams are over, I have weeks of free time on my hands and a whole heap of fanfiction up my sleeves! And it appears that I have exclaimationitis! Oh well. I'm happy, I got my Gamecube for my birthday! YAY! Which is the reason why I've been a bit quiet on the fanfiction front. That and the fact that my mother has taken up the task of running an entire horse show by herself, (I get an official badge!) and my little sis has been playing polo like there's no tomorrow and I've been dragged along to watch (willingily, you have no idea how gorgeous some of those guys are!) AND I've had writer's block. Sorry!

OK, now to the story. This is part four of the saga. "Four?" I hear you cry, "But there's only three stories in this saga so far!" Well, you forget that there's still the Pre-prequel and that'll be out soon, I'm just thinking that I'll do a George Lucas and release that once the fifth instalment is finished, just when you think that I've abandoned you. Not that I'd ever do that of course ^_^!

I realise that this might have a bit of a slow start compared to the last two fics. The pace will pick up as soon as Orla is seven, but for the first two chapters she will be five years old and having a bit of a hard time, poor little mite. Just bare with me. Also, there's going to be a lot of stuff in italics inserted in conversations. This is because Link and Zelda have a psychic bond and can communicate without words for those situations when they want to talk in private, which they will be doing a lot. I've used it before but I just wanted to make absolutely certain that people understood my madness.

So without further ado, allow me to introduce you to part four of the saga.

Endeffera

By anime animal

Chapter 1: The Darkness

An open log fire blazed in the circular chamber that made up the private residence of the priestess Griselda de la Lune. The night was cold and the seventy eight year old woman had become increasingly aware that she was slowing down by being acutely sensitive to the cold in her joints. Her appearance might still have been that of a young woman, but inside she could not disguise the fact that she was getting old. 

"Did you see her?"

Petranella looked at her mother eagerly, her face a mixture of concern for the older woman's welfare and also of excitement at the prospect of new information.

"It was hard not to." Griselda replied, sipping from the beaker of tea that had been offered to her earlier. "Some day you must visit yourself, it would not cause alarm."

Petranella nodded but continued to uphold her expression of anticipation.

"Some day I shall, but in the meantime I wish to know of your visit."

Griselda sighed and threw another log onto the fire.

"Every time I see that child she grows all the more enchanting." She said, smiling fondly. "She has the look of her father about her, although she has much of her mother's beauty to her credit. As the tournament finished with her father's victory she tore into that arena as fast as her legs could carry her, throwing snow up everywhere and soaking her dress but with a smile on her face that could melt even the heart of winter. She adores that man you know, absolutely adores him."

Petranella smiled.

"I'm not surprised. From what I have heard the Prince adores her too, and Zelda's sentiments are the same in both attributes."

"She is with child again."

"I had heard." Petranella smiled. "It will be soon, won't it?"

"Indeed." Griselda agreed. "Any day now I'd say."

Petranella ignored the slight flatness to her mother's tone and took up her embroidery.

"That will be nice for the little one. I remember how pleased I was when Cordelia was born, it always gives a child a sense of responsibility..."

"Orla does not need responsibility." Griselda snapped, taking her daughter by surprise. "The child has enough balancing on her shoulders as it is without her parents foolishly introducing a second child to the world."

Petranella placed her embroidery back on her lap, looking up at her mother with confused eyes.

"I'm not sure I understand."

Griselda sighed and closed her eyes.

"There are many strong emotions in the world that can lead to conflict." She said slowly. "Hate. Fear. Anger. Love. As it stands Zelda's daughter has not yet been corrupted by any of these afflictions with the exception of love which, as you and I both know, can be both nurturing and destructive. This has not been harming the child, but with the arrival of this new babe a new and powerful force will be introduced that could throw everything off balance and quite possibly bring Orla's powers towards the surface."

"What force is that?" Petranella asked.

"Jealousy."

******

"Ranny?"

"Yeah?"

"Where do babies come from?"

Clad in her night-dress, Princess Orla sat upright at the top of her bed looking eagerly to her knowledgeable elder cousin who was at the foot of the bed for the answer to the question. 

Ranlink scratched his head thoughtfully and paused.

"Why?"

Orla shrugged.

"Because Mama told me to ask Daddy and Daddy told me to ask Mama and I don't think they know so I'm asking you because you know everything."

Ranny smiled at having his genius acknowledged and stuck his chest out importantly.

"Babies come from the Great Fairies." His announced. "The Mommy and the Daddy have to go to the Great Fairy and then she gives them a magic spell and puff!"

"Puff?" Orla asked, tilting her blonde head to one side and raising an eyebrow sceptically.

"Puff, there's a baby in the Mommy's tummy." Ranny announced, looking extremely pleased with his explanation.

Orla frowned.

"Are you two still awake?"

Link was leaning against the door frame and looking at the two children with an amused look on his face. Orla looked slightly sheepish as did Ranny, who was hiding underneath the blanket.

"We can't got to sleep now Daddy, we're too excited!" Orla laughed, hugging her father as he sat down on the bed beside her. 

"Excited about what?" Link asked, pulling the blanket off his nephew and earning a surprised squeak.

"Everything." Ranny said. "Show us how you did that thing again Uncle Link!"

Link smiled and shook his head.

"Sorry kid, but your aunt would kill me if I did that inside."

Ranny looked crestfallen and sighed.

"OK."

Link ruffled his nephew's hair and pried himself from Orla's chokehold.

"Seriously guys, it's way past your bedtime. Come on, time for you to get some sleep."

Reluctantly the two children took up their places and were safely tucked in, although both had expectant looks on their faces. Link took one look at their expressions and shook his head.

"Oh no, not tonight. You two are not going to suck me into your devious little schemes again."

Orla frowned and pouted.

"But Daddy..." She pleaded.

Ranny caught his cousin's intentions and joined her in the last part of her sentence.

"Please?"

Link shook his head.

"Every time you get me to tell you a story I always end up staying in far too long and then Orla's mother comes in and ends up telling me off for keeping you up too long and..."

Two pairs of pleading puppy dog eyes bored into him and weakened his resolve to the extent that he sighed heavily and sat down.

I don't believe this, I'm being blackmailed by a pair of manipulative kids who aren't even seven! Ganondorf would have a field day.

"Alright alright I'll tell you a story, but this is all your fault. Deal?"

"Deal." They piped simultaneously.

"OK. Many years ago a young boy was riding through the forest on his trusty horse when..."

"So, it appears that even you are sucked in by the infamous puppy dog eyes."

Aidyn's wife Catrine laughed softly and cast a sympathetic look at her brother in law whilst her son whistled approvingly.

"Wow Mom, you look great!"

"Yeah!" Orla agreed.

Catrine smiled and twirled around to show them all of her plum coloured velvet dress.

"Glad you guys like it. Now it's time to go to sleep." 

Both children groaned.

"I bet you're letting Theo stay up." Ranny accused.

Link cast a sideways glance at Catrine who was rolling her eyes.

"Theo was asleep ages ago, like you two should have been." She replied. "You can't blackmail me as easily as you can blackmail Link."

"Hey!" Link announced indignantly.

Orla giggled and kissed her father's cheek.

"Silly Daddy." She said, smiling happily and snuggling up next to him.

Link hugged his daughter and then put her back into her bed.

"OK, I'm going to count to three and if you two haven't got your eyes closed by then I'm going to have to throw you in the moat. One. Two..."

With a squeak, both children burrowed underneath their blankets and squeezed their eyes tightly shut. Link smiled and blew out the candle on the nightstand and kissed the top of Orla's head.

"Good girl. Sleep well."

"Night Daddy."

Catrine finished tucking her son in and followed Link outside, shutting the door partially behind her.

"Do you think they'll go to sleep now?"

"Not a chance." Link chuckled. "Where's Aidyn?"

"Downstairs with your father, supervising the mulled wine. Zelda wants you, by the way."

Link thanked her and walked along the corridors to his room. Six years of living in the castle meant that he now knew the place like the back of his hand, due to various exploring trips by himself and with Orla. Despite this, finding various hidden passageways and false doors still constantly surprised him. Utilising this knowledge, he leant up against a wall and failed to react as it fell backwards behind him, allowing access to a room behind it. A small fire was crackling, casting a warm golden glow on the plush furnishings and the large fur rug on the floor in front of it. Silently closing the secret door behind him, Link stealthily crept into the room and prowled up to the figure who was sitting in a chair with a book in her lap. Just as he was about to tickle his unsuspecting victim behind, she raised her hand and grabbed hold of his wrist.

"Don't even think about it."

Link sighed and sat down on the rug, looking disheartened.

"How did you..?"

Zelda smiled and closed her book, putting it to one side.

"I've been married to you for six years, I knew you for eight years before that and you don't expect me to realise when you're creeping up behind me with the intention of making me jump."

She sighed and struggled to get to her feet, gaining assistance from her husband who gave her his hand and helped her up.

"I just thought that if I made you jump enough then maybe I'd persuade the kid to get a move on." He grinned, kissing her cheek.

Zelda smiled and wrapped her arms around his neck, staring happily into his eyes as she did so.

"I do believe that you are perhaps a little bit excited about being a Daddy again, aren't you?"

"Mm, quite possibly. Now if you could just pull a few strings and go into labour now then maybe we won't have to go to this banquet."

The Princess laughed spanked his behind lightly.

"Are you that opposed to formal occasions?"

"No, it's just I can't stand all these stuck up people staring at me as though I'm a freak and I hate it when all these attractive teenage girls come up to me and flutter their eyelashes at me."

Zelda arched an eyebrow and shot him a withering look.

"Nice try pal, but it's not going to work. This is going to be the last time I'm able to let my hair down before it's back to screaming babies and midnight feedings."

Link smiled.

"Whatever happened to 'Oh Link, I miss having a baby so much, I really want us to try for another?'"

"That was when I could still see my feet." Zelda replied. 

Link chuckled quietly and kissed her softly on the lips.

"Feet or no feet you're still the most beautiful woman in Hyrule."

"Flatterer."

Zelda sighed and nestled her head on his shoulder.

"But thank you."

Link smiled and kissed the top of her head.

"Does this mean we still have to go to the ball?"

******

It was cold and dark and the air smelt of death all around. Everything seemed to be a pitiful grey wasteland deprived of life or any activity to suggest that this world had once been hospitable to living creatures. An involuntary shudder filled her body as she continued to stare out at the destruction.

_This is what will happen again if you don't stop it._

Suddenly the silence grew unbearable and out of nowhere a piercing scream split the noiseless surroundings, causing an shiver to run down her spine. Slowly, she turned around and came face to face with the source of imbalance, the great and evil presence that had been plaguing life and death with its malicious intent. Her eyes narrowed as she raised her hands above her head.

"I do not care that this will destroy me, all I care is that I am able to stop you from destroying my home."

As she spoke, power surged through her body with all the pain of a thousand red-hot daggers stabbing her body. The intense power expelled itself from every pore in her body, the sheer energy of its force ripping her clothes to shreds and leaving her body naked in the midst of the aura that surrounded her. Part of her heard the wail and shriek of the black presence as it was driven back, but her focus was totally on her agony. She felt her energy draining from her, and she slowly began to feel fatigue and never ending weariness set in.

Her body was dying.

But she couldn't stop now, not when she was so close to succeeding.

And now it was gone, it was finished. Her body crumpled to the ground, its limbs lifeless. She heard someone cry her name, and then a golden light surrounded the area and she felt something warm take hold of her, holding her tightly to its body, planting kisses in her hair and murmuring softly to her.

"Everything will be alright." A smooth but trembling voice reassured her. "Everything will be alright."

Over and over again the voice repeated the same statement, rocking her body back and forth until eventually the weariness and the fatigue overwhelmed her and a blanket of white smothered her. That was all she knew.

Orla shot bolt upright with a scream, trembling in fright and breathing heavily. She wrapped her arms around herself and rocked herself back and forth, hot tears pouring down her face.

"How is it alright?" She whimpered. "It's not alright, it's not!"

Ranlink was still snoring softly at the foot of the bed, dead to the world. Shaking, Orla slid out of bed and padded across the room in her bare feet, putting her thumb in her mouth like a baby and making her way to the staircase in the corridor. The sounds of the party downstairs drifted up to the higher levels of the castle, making the silence that normally filled the castle practically non-existent but that didn't bother the frightened little Princess. Her shaking hand gripped the railing as she traipsed downstairs into the ballroom, her eyes wide with fear and alarm. She got more and more scared as the noise got louder and louder until she ended up standing totally still, staring at the people and trembling. 

"Mama..." She whispered, looking around her with a frightened look on her face.

The room seemed to be spinning to her, whirling around getting faster and faster until she couldn't bear it any longer and screamed as she pitched forwards and toppled down the stairs.

"Orla!"

General Olaran flung himself at the falling child and caught her before she could cause herself any harm. Surprised gasps and startled cries alerted her parents, who battled through the crowd to their now sobbing daughter.

"What happened?" King Harkinian asked his friend.

"She just fell." Olaran replied, cuddling the little girl close to him.

"It's not alright, it's not..." Orla mumbled.

"Oh sweet Gods Orla!" Zelda gasped, running to her daughter. 

"Dad, what happened?" Link asked as he took Orla from him.

"She was standing on the stairs and before I knew it she was falling." Olaran explained again. 

"It's not alright..."

"Yes it is sweetheart, it's alright." Zelda said soothingly, brushing Orla's hair from her face. "Link, let's take her back to bed."

Link nodded and wrapped his arms protectively around her.

"Harkinian, lets get this party going again." Olaran suggested. "This hushed silence is slightly uncomfortable."

Harkinian nodded and gestured at the band to start playing. Zelda cast Link a worried glance and followed him upstairs as he carried Orla.

_I don't like this._

Link nodded his head as he tried to comfort the shaking Orla with kisses on her brow.

"It's not alright..."

"What's not alright?" Zelda asked.

"It's the darkness. The darkness is coming. I'm going to die." The rest of the princess' words collapsed into tears.

Zelda stopped mid-step and looked at Link, who was repeating the action in her direction. He touched his daughter's head softly and frowned.

"She's burning up."

Aidyn came charging up the stairs behind his brother, panting slightly from dashing.

"Is she... OK?"

Link shook his head.

"She's shaken up and feverish."

Aidyn looked grim.

"I'll go put Ran in some other bed so that she can have hers to herself." He suggested. 

He ran ahead and left his brother alone with his family.

"Was it a nightmare darling?" Zelda asked.

Orla lifted her head and nodded, her big blue eyes misted over with tears.

"The darkness is coming..."

_Do you think it's a prophecy? Link asked._

Zelda frowned.

_Gods I hope not. You heard what she said._

Link nodded and carried his daughter into her room once her uncle had emerged with a sleeping Ranlink draped over his shoulder. He and Zelda placed Orla in her bed and tucked her in, Zelda lighting the candle on the nightstand and then sitting down on the side of the bed.

"It's alright sweetheart." She soothed, passing her hand over her daughter's head. "Daddy and I are right here, you'll be OK."

Orla hiccupped and looked up at her parents, her small body shaking nervously.

"Don't let the darkness come." She whispered. "I don't want to be the light."

Link glanced at Zelda, who had her eyes closed and her hand on Orla's head. He picked up the little girl's hand and brushed his thumb across it, looking at her anxiously. He knew what Zelda was doing, he didn't need to be told that she was going to read Orla's mind to see what had happened. Orla's eyelids begun to droop and her breathing slowly evened out as she begun to fall asleep. All of a sudden Zelda gasped and her eyes flew open in shock.

"What? What is it? Is it the baby?" Link asked.

Zelda shook her head and looked at her daughter with a panicked look on her face.

"It's _the prophecy Link."_

Link closed his eyes and shook his head.

"No way Zel, no way. I told you before, we are _not going to lose her."_

He enfolded his wife in his arms and held her close.

"We won't lose her." He repeated.

_to be continued_


	2. Princess Amalia Marisa

Disclaimer: Legend of Zelda is not mine. I'm learning to deal with it by repeatedly banging my head against a brick wall.

A.N: Warning. Sap. Too sappy for some people, but there is good reason for it (personally I think it's cute, but I'm slightly biased!). The person who is being sappy is being sappy so that they can boost someone's ego. And to the psyche five year old what can be more flattering than hearing your daddy talk about how much he loves you and looked forward to you being born? You'll understand more when you get there...

Chapter 2: Princess Amalia Marisa

The snow covered gardens of Hyrule Castle served as the perfect place for a snowball fight, and there was none so furious as the battle that raged in the still morning air the day following Orla's nightmare. Huddled up warm in a cloak and mittens, Orla ran through the snow with her hair streaming behind her, all the while being hotly pursued by her adversary.

"I'm gonna get you!" 

A small Gerudo with white blonde hair threw a snowy missile at her friend, which struck her squarely on the arm with a resounding thud.

"Ow! Navali, that hurt..." Orla yelped.

"Really?"

Navali put down her second snowball and looked at her friend in concern. She hadn't meant to hurt her; it was just that she really didn't know her own strength...

"Nope, I was just saying that so you'd stand still!" Orla giggled, flinging a snowball back at her.

"Bombs away!" Ranny yelled, hitting both girls from behind with two snowballs.

Orla and Navali screamed in outrage and chased after him, hastily forming snowballs as they did.

Watching from a distance, Link smiled to himself as he rubbed Epona down after a thorough workout that morning. 

"I still can't believe how much like you she is." A feminine voice commented.

Link shrugged as Nabooru joined him having dismounted her horse.

"She's a great kid, what can I say?" He grinned.

Nabooru smiled and pulled her cloak tighter to her.

"Gods I don't know how you Hylians can live like this, I really don't." She complained. "It's never this cold in the Valley."

Link laughed.

"Navali doesn't seem to have any trouble adjusting to it." 

Nabooru's gaze diverted momentarily to her five year old daughter and caused a fond smile to cross the Gerudo woman's face.

"Yeah, that kid could fit in anywhere, so long as it isn't her home."

Link frowned as he led Epona into her stable.

"Still getting bullied?"

Nabooru nodded.

"She pretends it doesn't bother her, but I can see it does. It's not _exactly bullying, it's just that the other girls won't give her the time of day."_

Link cast a glance at the small girl who was currently sitting on his nephew's back while Orla rammed snowballs down his shirt.

"Can't see why not, she's the perfect Gerudo in my opinion."

Nabooru smiled.

"I'll tell her you said that, but I wish that the others would see it that way. I know they're talking about her behind my back, they're calling her bad blood."

"Bad blood?" Link asked.

Nabooru nodded. 

"You know that in order to have children we Gerudo have to go... abroad to find a man."

Link nodded.

"Well, sometimes when the baby's born she may have inherited a trait from her father that isn't acceptable in Gerudo culture, and therefore she has to be given away so that the purity of our people isn't weakened. I know it's cruel," She said quickly upon seeing Link's horrified expression. "And it doesn't happen very often. But when it does, then the mother is often frozen out until she gets rid of the child or worse. It won't surprise you whose idea it was to put this into practice."

"Ganondorf." Link muttered. "The sick bastard."

Nabooru nodded.

"If anything I'd say he's bad blood, considering that he's a freakish coincidence that only ever happens once a century."

"I don't think I'd like to be a Gerudo." Link commented.

Nabooru looked at him wryly.

"Think about what you just said. You don't want to be the only male in a society full of women who would worship and adore you?"

Link shook his head.

"Married man Nabooru, that won't work on me anymore." He grinned. "Seriously though, can't you do anything to stop what they do to their kids? It's racist and..."

"Do you think I haven't tried?" Nabooru snapped. "I've seen women kill themselves after giving away their babies and what's worse I've seen the treatment of women who won't. Sometimes I wish to the Gods that I'd been born a Hylian so that I didn't have to put up with some of our traditions."

She sighed and looked at Navali again.

"There's never been anything written that says a Gerudo can't have hair any other colour than red, but then again there has never been a Gerudo born with blonde hair before so it's no wonder that Navali is regarded with distrust. The truth is that everyone announced that she was the purest Gerudo baby they'd ever seen but when her hair started to grow..." 

She sighed again and looked at her feet.

"My perfect baby wasn't so perfect anymore."

Link patted her shoulder softly to comfort her.

"Don't worry Nabooru, Navali's going to be just fine."

Nabooru smiled weakly and then slipped her well-used mask of confidence and authority back on.

"OK Rookie, you got five more minutes and then we're going home."

Navali looked up and whined.

"Oh Mommy, do I have to?"

Nabooru nodded.

"You whine at me and it'll be three."

Link laughed softly.

"Geez, I'd hate to bump into you on a dark night."

Nabooru grinned.

"Unless it was to sleep with me."

"Oh for crying out loud, when are you and Ruto going to get it into your heads that..."

He was interrupted by Nabooru's laughter.

"Would you relax?" She grinned. "Sleeping with you would be like sleeping with a little brother. Besides, you know I only tease you because it gets such a great reaction."

Link shot her a withering look and then began to laugh too. He was still laughing when the pair were joined by Impa.

"What's so funny? Have you been corrupting his mind _again Nabooru?"_

"His mind was already corrupted long before I started." Nabooru assured her.

Link used his well-loved angelic expression and stopped when he saw that it didn't impress the Sheikah woman.

"What can I do for you Impa?" He offered.

Impa smiled and folded her arms across her chest.

"I just thought that you'd be interested in hearing that your wife has been in labour for the past ten minutes."

"Oh that's... She's WHAT?" Link spluttered.

"She started having contractions about ten minutes ago and is fairly certain that this isn't a false alarm."

"Shit!" Link cursed, uncertain about what to do. "I..."

"I think the words you're looking for are 'better get going before I'm a dead man.'" Nabooru offered.

Link nodded.

"Sorry to run but..."

"I know." Nabooru grinned. "Good luck!"

Both she and Impa laughed as he bolted back into the castle as fast as he could, tripping over and uneven cobblestone and cursing as he wobbled.

"He hasn't changed one bit has he?" Impa chuckled.

"Changed from what?" 

"From the ten year old boy who used to trip over that exact same cobblestone. You'd think at twenty three he would have learnt by now..."

******

Babysitting was not something that Aidyn Ferras found himself doing all that often, and as he sat taking care of his two children and niece he couldn't quite see why. Ranny was armed with his small wooden sword and teaching his three year old brother Theoden how to use it. Theo was very much his mother's son with the same chocolate brown curls and violet eyes and adored his brother almost to the extent of worship. Aidyn smiled at his boys and then cast a slightly worried glance at his niece who was gazing out of the window at the snowy skies. She'd been very quiet all afternoon which to Aidyn was confusing, particularly when he remembered the three year old Ranlink had been practically bouncing off the walls when he'd been told that he was about to be a brother.

"Orla, are you alright?" He asked.

Orla looked over her shoulder at her uncle and nodded, wearing a pretty smile on her face.

"Uncle Aidyn, how big were you when my Daddy was born?" She asked.

Aidyn smiled.

"I was about your age and I had to wait for hours and hours for him to come. I don't think I went to sleep at all that night."

Orla smiled and wrapped her arms around her knees.

"When my little brother comes, I'm going to teach him everything." She said. 

Aidyn nodded and ruffled Orla's messy blonde mop.

"I bet you are, and he's going to love you to pieces in return."

"Orla, pway wid us!" Theo demanded, tugging on his cousin's sleeve.

Orla laughed and did as she was told, knowing that Theo's wrath was better to be avoided.

The door opened quietly as Olaran entered the room with a smile on his face.

"Any progress?" Aidyn asked quietly upon seeing his father.

Olaran nodded.

"It was over ten minutes ago, I'd tell you more but Link's not saying anything until Orla's been introduced."

"Already? That was only..."

"Five hours." Olaran agreed. "Nothing to it, according to Zelda. Orla?"

Orla looked up at her grandfather.

"Yes?"

"Mama and Daddy have something to show you." He said, smiling happily.

Orla's eyes widened as she took her grandfather's hand and practically skipped through the passageways to her parents' room. She knew what had happened and was too excited to speak. As she came to the doorway she saw her other grandfather, her aunt and Impa all smiling and looking happy to confirm her suspicions. Then her father came out of the door with the biggest grin she had ever seen on his face and she knew then and there that she was a sister. She let go of her grandfather's hand and ran up to Link, laughing happily as he picked her up and tossed her in the air.

"There you are midget!" He chuckled, perching her on his shoulders. "There's someone that your mother and I want you to meet."

He carried her into the bedroom and set her down carefully, putting his fingers to his lips to demand silence, not that Orla would have spoken anyway; she was too fixated in what was on the bed.

Zelda was propped upright against the pillows, smiling at her daughter with rosy cheeks and slightly messed up hair but at the same time looking very happy which Orla put down to what was wrapped up in the white blankets that were in her arms. Link had already joined his wife and had kissed her cheek, looking adoringly at the new baby and then back at his eldest child. All of a sudden Orla couldn't move, she wanted to stay looking at them forever but was prompted by her mother's voice calling her over to the bedside. She did as she was told, only climbing up onto the bed and sitting upright on her haunches at the pillows beside her mother to get a peek at the new arrival.

"Orla this is your new sister Amalia." Zelda said softly as her daughter stared at the tiny person in the blankets. "Princess Amalia Marisa."

Orla looked confused.

"I thought you said I was going to have a baby brother." She told her father.

Link laughed softly.

"Maybe next time squirt."

Zelda sighed happily and kissed her daughter's cheek.

"Do you want to hold her?"

Orla nodded and held out her arms to receive the bundle and had her carefully positioned in her arms by her mother. She stared intently at the face of her newborn sister, analysing each feature with heavy scrutiny until she smiled.

"She looks like you Mama." She announced, looking up at her parents.

Link smiled and nodded in agreement.

"Aren't I a lucky guy?" He asked, getting matching confused looks from mother and daughter. "Here I am, sitting in a room with the three most beautiful women in Hyrule. I could die a happy man right here and now."

Zelda shot him a withering look while Orla looked slightly alarmed.

"Oh no you don't, you're not going anywhere until the baby sleeps through the night." Zelda warned.

"Yeah, and you promised that you'd teach me how to ride!" Orla protested.

Link laughed softly and sat beside Orla, looking at her and her new sister.

"Girls, I'm only teasing." He reassured them. "Besides, how else am I expected to give Orla and Amalia a baby brother?"

Orla's face lit up just as Amalia's tiny face began to screw itself up into a disgruntled expression. She very slowly opened her mouth and before Orla realised it her sister was bawling her heart out, her face changing colour from rosy pink to angry raspberry. Zelda had tensed and gently relieved her elder daughter of the wailing baby, cooing softly and rocking her in her arms. Orla's face fell and she looked at her feet.

"I guess she doesn't like me very much."

Link lifted her off the bed and hugged her against his chest.

"She just doesn't know what's happening yet. Give it a few days and she'll adore you."

******

The traditional naming ceremony followed a week after Amalia's birth when visitors from all over the kingdom and neighbouring royalty would arrive to pay their respects to the newborn princess. The morning of the ceremony dawned crisp and bright with a thin powdering of snow from the night before bringing an aspect of seasonal cheer to the large group of people waiting outside the Temple of Time for the proceedings to begin. Olaran, Aidyn and Link stood on the steps with the purpose of greeting the guests while the others were inside in the warm with Zelda and the baby. All that is except Orla, who was intent on greeting the guests at her father's side, her small hand clutching his right hand as he shook hands with those that he greeted. She was dressed in a bright green dress with a scarlet cape around her shoulders, looking the epitome of a well-behaved young princess.

Link cast his eyes downwards as he felt his cloak shift and found it wrapped around Orla's body. The end of her nose had gone pink from cold but her cheeks were rosy and enhanced the smile on the girl's face.

"You're not too cold are you squirt?" He asked, squeezing her hand.

Orla shook her head.

"No, I'm fine." She replied, smiling cheerfully. "Were there this lots of people when I was a baby?"

Link smiled at her jumbled sentence and nodded.

"Yeah, if not more."

Orla's face lit up.

"Really?"

Aidyn and Olaran laughed at Orla's enthusiasm.

"Why do you want to know?" Olaran asked.

Orla shrugged.

"Just 'cause I want to Grampa."

"Good enough reason." Olaran agreed.

A few more guests introduced themselves before a tall woman wearing a deep purple cloak appeared. She curtsied before the men and paused, her eyes fixated on Orla who squirmed uncomfortably under her gaze. Link sensed his daughter's discomfort and put a protective hand on her shoulder.

"Welcome." He said pointedly, his tone demanding that an introduction was in order.

"Greetings nephew." The woman said, doffing her hood to reveal a head full of long silver hair and large grey eyes. "I am your wife's aunt, Petranella Aquala."

Link, Olaran and Aidyn were too astounded to speak, so Petranella took the time to address her great niece.

"Hello, you must be Orla."

Orla nodded, keeping a tight grip on her father's hand and going uncharacteristically quiet.

"My goodness aren't you a big girl?" Petranella asked, trying to make friends with the child by smiling warmly at her. "You're five aren't you?"

"Uh huh." Orla replied.

"Almost a grown up! I'll bet you have lots of adventures in the castle don't you?"

Orla nodded, breaking into a smile that totally took the priestess by surprise at its warmth and sincerity. She smiled back and stood up to address Link.

"I am aware that you are probably uncomfortable with my presence here." She began.

"Moderately." He replied.

"I come with no malice, I merely wish to visit my niece. It has been a while since I last saw her and I am very keen to meet your daughters."

"Especially Orla." Link commented dryly.

Petranella smiled at the little girl and then looked back at her father.

"As I said, I bear no malice. Despite what you may think of me I have no hidden agenda, unlike my sister."

Beside Aidyn, Olaran tensed. His eyes had not left Petranella since the moment she had arrived.

"You have no need to eye me with distrust Prince Ranlink. I hope that I may be given the chance to acquaint myself better with you after the ceremony."

With that she curtsied again and went into the temple. The gazes of the three men followed her right through the door and then went immediately back to each other.

"Aidyn, would you mind taking Orla inside?" Link asked his brother.

"Oh but Daddy..." Orla protested.

"It's OK sweetheart I'll follow you in a moment." He assured her, kneeling down in front of her. "I just want to talk to Grampa on my own for a bit."

"Are you going to talk about the nice lady?" She asked.

Link was momentarily taken aback by his daughter's perceptiveness.

"No, I'm not." He lied.

"Come on Orla, I think Ranny's going to have a fit if you don't make an appearance soon." Aidyn said, taking his niece's hand and saving the day.

He led Orla into the Temple of Time having received a thankful nod from his brother. Link turned to his father with a frown on his face.

"Petranella. Can we trust her?"

Olaran nodded.

"As she said, she's nothing like Cordelia." He replied. "But we can guarantee that she'll be reporting back to her mother."

Link nodded.

"I thought so. So what should I do?"

Olaran put a hand on his son's shoulder.

"Go inside, enjoy the ceremony and forget all about it."

"Hunh? Dad that has got to be the screwiest advice you've ever given me!" Link laughed.

Olaran shook his head.

"You forget about it for the service but talk to Zelda afterwards. Tell her that Petranella's here and let her sort it out. You're forgetting that she appears to have more sense than both of us put together when it comes to stuff like this."

Link nodded.

"I guess you're right."

"I'm your father, I'm _always right." Olaran grinned._

******

Princess Amalia Marisa had inherited from her mother the ability to draw people to her whatever their age, race or gender. However, after many hours of being peeked at in her cradle and praised by well-wishing guests, she was currently occupied with an afternoon meal in private with her mother and father locked in heavy conversation.

"What do you mean I should be on my guard?" Zelda asked in a slightly raised voice. "And why is that whenever you say 'don't worry but' I always do?"

Link shrugged.

"Acute paranoia?"

Zelda shot him a withering look and turned her attention to the baby.

"So, are you going to tell me what I should be on guard about or am I going to be kidnapped by yet another one of Ganondorf's faithful minions?"

"OK, OK. Sheesh, what side of the bed did you get out of this morning?"

Zelda glared at him, at which point he decided to make amends by kissing her cheek.

"Zelly, I'm only winding you up. You look so cute when you're mad."

Her face softened and she sighed.

"I'm sorry, I guess I'm just wound up what with the baby and Orla's nightmare..."

"That's kinda what we've got to talk about." Link interrupted. "Your aunt Petranella is here."

Zelda froze, which caused Amalia to whimper softly. 

"Did she say why?" Zelda asked.

"No, she only said that she wasn't bearing any malice."

"That's reassuring." 

"And you believe her?"

She nodded.

"She sat with me while I was in the Sisterhood, and although she was unaware that I was conscious I was able to get a pretty good understanding of her character."

"By Farore I had no idea I'd married such a devious woman." Link laughed.

"Yes you did, you told me that I was devious the night I pretended to be ill so that we could get out of that boring seminar when we were trying for Orla." She smirked.

"Oh Gods I remember that. You should really get ill more often..."

"Give me another five weeks and I will, but right now we've got more important things to worry about."

Link nodded.

"Should I ask Petranella to join us?"

Amalia had finished feeding and Zelda had the baby at her shoulder while she adjusted her dress.

"Yes. And be nice."

Link looked affronted.

"When am I not nice?"

"When you see a monster and have a sword in your hands. Oh, and when you find out that I've eaten all of your chocolate. And when..."

"OK, OK, I get it. I'm a horrible, horrible person."

"Not when you're being naughty."

"Zelda! Stop teasing me, it's not fair!"

Zelda laughed and got up to kiss him tenderly. 

"I wouldn't care if you were a horrible, horrible person." She said softly. "I'd still love you. No matter what, no matter how, no matter where."

Link eagerly returned her kiss, and was still doing so when the door opened.

"I'm sorry, I'm interrupting you. I'll leave."

It was Petranella.

"Please don't." Zelda said, halting the elder woman in her tracks. "We'd like to speak with you."

Petranella paused.

"Have you come with news about Orla?" Her niece asked, cutting right to the chase.

Petranella nodded and turned to look at both of them, her face anxious. Her eyes rested upon Amalia who was now being held by her father.

"I've come because I felt there was something you needed to be warned about. It involves both of the little ones."

Link looked at her in surprise.

"What does Amalia have to do with _endeffera?" He asked, subconsciously holding the baby a little tighter._

"My mother believes that the power that Orla harbours may very well begin to surface at the motivation of a powerful emotion, emotions like love, hate, fear..."

Her eyes wandered to Amalia again, a gesture caught by Zelda who finished what her aunt was trying to say as the majority of the colour drained from her face.

"Jealousy."

Petranella nodded.

"When the news reached us that you were expecting, my mother was instantly concerned. I didn't know it then, but she voiced her fears to me on the day of the tournament..."

"What have I done?" Zelda asked in a shaking voice. "How could I possibly have been so stupid not to think about it in the first place? Of course she's going to be jealous of Amalia, how could I not see that?!"

Link put his hand on Zelda's shoulder.

"Listen Petranella, I know that Griselda's fears are probably justifiable but she doesn't know Orla. She couldn't be jealous of anything..."

"You were brought up in the Forest weren't you?" Petranella asked, catching Link off guard. 

"I... well yeah but what does that have to do with anything?" He replied.

"And you never felt jealousy?"

Link was silent as memories of days past flooded back to him, days when the entire Kokiri Village sat at a great midsummer feast in the Deku Tree's Meadow, talking happily amongst each other and getting their fairies to do tricks while a small boy watched from the far end of the table, fairy less.

"You see Link, you do not strike me as a jealous person yet you have felt jealousy. We have _all felt jealousy, it is like a parasite that if not treated can embitter and destroy. It was jealousy that ruined my sister." _

Zelda and Link had been staring intently at their baby, sleeping soundly in her father's arms. Eventually Zelda's eyes left the child and met with her aunt's.

"So what is it that Link and I are supposed to do?"

Petranella sighed.

"You cannot _do anything. If this is destiny, if it __is due to jealousy that Orla's powers begin to develop then no matter how hard you try, you will not be able to stop it."_

******

_One month later_

Orla settled herself down beneath her blankets as her mother came and sat beside her carrying Orla's favourite book in her hands.

"Alright then, where did we leave it last time?" Zelda asked, skimming through the pages until she found the bookmark.

"The part where the prince had to fight the dragon!" Orla said excitedly, squirming about so that she could see the pictures and then smiling as she saw an image of a snarling reptile with fiery breath attacking a small man clad in armour on a grey horse.

Zelda smiled and began to read aloud, aware that she had her daughter's full and undivided attention.

"Draco's breath was burning as Prince Valiant unsheathed his sword. The great beast snarled maliciously as it circled the brave prince, its eyes on fire and burning like hot coals..."

Her voice trailed off as an all too familiar sound gradually got louder and louder. Orla recognised it immediately and narrowed her eyes as her father appeared in her room with a bawling Amalia against his shoulder.

"I don't know what to do Zel, she's not stopped crying since you put her down."

Zelda sighed wearily and got up, casting a worried glance at Orla.

"Sweetheart, do you mind if Daddy reads to you for a while? I'll be back in a minute..."

Orla tried to hide her disappointment and nodded.

As she left with the baby, Zelda shot Link a concerned look which he reciprocated.

_Don't worry._

_It's the third time this week though..._

Zelda paused as a brainwave hit her and she turned around.

"Orla, do you want to help me put Amalia to bed?"

Orla shook her head.

"I'd like to hear my story."

Zelda's face fell minutely.

"Oh, OK. I'll be back in a minute."

She took the screaming baby back to her room while Orla's attention had fixated itself upon the open book. She could feel her cheeks burning and her heart pounding angrily against her chest until her father's hand found itself on her back.

"If only all babies could be like you were." He said fondly.

Orla looked up in surprise.

"What do you mean?"

Link smiled and brushed Orla's bangs away from her eyes.

"You were the most perfect baby, and you were so beautiful that I didn't want to let you go for a moment, even when I had to. I still feel like that sometimes."

Orla smiled a little and accepted her father's invitation to climb onto his lap. She curled up tightly into a little ball, sucking her thumb while Link brushed his fingers through her hair.

"The day your mother told me that she was having a baby was one of the happiest days of my life." He continued, watching his daughter's face intently. "That night I didn't get any sleep, I just lay awake and looked at her all night, wondering what you were going to be like and how me of all people could have done something so wonderful that it meant a new person was growing. I'll never forget the day when you first started kicking. It was a horrible, rainy day and Mama and I were sitting in my treehouse in the Forest because we'd had to run in there when the rain had started. We were having a picnic. It seemed that things were terrible until she laughed and grabbed my hand. She put it on her tummy and I could feel you kicking, right here."

He showed her the very middle of his right palm, pointing to it with his fingertips.

"What happened next?" Orla asked, far more interested in her father's memories than Prince Valiant and Draco.

"Well, we had to wait a few months for you to arrive, but I can remember one night lying awake and talking to Mama about what we were going to call you. I pretended to ask you what you wanted to be called and put my ear on Mama's stomach, trying to hear an answer. What I heard was your heart beating, and I was absolutely quiet for a few minutes until your mother said 'Why don't we name the baby after your father? Olaran for a boy and Orla for a girl.' And I couldn't think of anything I wanted to call you more than that. I went out for a ride the next morning on Epona and kept saying the names over and over again. We both thought that you'd be a girl, and I never told anyone but I wanted you to be a girl so badly that I even prayed for you to be a girl. So I kept saying Orla."

Orla's eyelids were beginning to get heavy as her father's constant soothing voice and touch on her head began to make her feel sleepy. Just before she fell asleep, she vaguely heard him say something that would stick in her mind for a very long time.

"No matter what happens, no matter how hard things get, remember that you'll always be my baby girl and that I'll always love you."

******

_This has to be stopped._

_How can we stop it?_

_There's no way it can be stopped, it's too powerful!_

_We're helpless! _

"No..."

_We can't stop it!_

"We can, we can..."

_It's too late, it's already here!_

"No! No, I won't let it get us!"

_What are you doing? _

_Come back!_

_ENDEFFERA DON'T!_

"I'm Orla!"__

_Something is destroying your home. Something is ruining your life. Something._

_If you want to you can destroy it._

"How?"

_Let it go. Let your power go. Then it will be gone, things can get back to normal. Just let your power out Endeffera._

"My name's not Endeffera. I'm Orla."

_Endeffera._

_ENDEFFERA._

**_ENDEFFERA._**

****

"Orla! I'm ORLA!"

******

"I'm Orla!"

Orla sat bolt upright, coming out of her dream suddenly and panting in confusion.

"My name is Orla Ariala Ferras." She said quietly to reassure herself.

She stared at her hands, practically hearing the same chilling voices flying around in her head. She shook her head violently, trying to blot out the memory. Maybe she should go and see her mother, she knew that her name was Orla...

That all too familiar cry could be heard in the distance, piercing the silence like a dagger. Amalia was awake. Amalia was getting all their parents' attention. Amalia was being comforted.

"Amalia's just a stupid baby!" Orla hissed, slamming her small fists into the pillows.

The pillow lay back and allowed itself to be hit, not responding, not judging. Orla cried out and continued to hit it, hot tears streaming down her cheeks until she eventually fell back against the pillows, curled up tightly in a ball.

_Something is destroying your home. Something is ruining your life. Something._

"Not something," Orla said quietly. "_Amalia."_


	3. A Warning

Disclaimer: Yada yada yada, Zelda not mine, blah blah blah, belongs to Nintendo etc etc, ad infinitum. How many more times to I have to say it!?

_Regarding Names: Somebody asked me in one of the reviews where I get my names from. If there are any in particular that you're curious about that I haven't mentioned then you can e-mail me and I'll tell you, but here is quite a hefty bit about them for now. Well, I take the credit for a few of them (I made up Olaran, Ariala, Ranlink and Endeffera all by myself and Theoden is also one of my creations) but some of them I have heard before and liked and thought would be suitable in a story. Aidyn, as many of you have guessed, I heard and liked from the game __Aidyn Chronicles (never played it though) and some of the others have amusing stories to them as well. One of my friends produced a baby name book at the beginning of my Zelda obsession and said, 'Look what Zelda's short for!' The entry said 'Zelda, see Griselda.' So, Griselda is essentially the same name as Zelda but is almost heinously ugly (incidentally, the definition of the name Griselda in that book is heroine. Looks like Mr Miyamoto chose the right name for everyone's favourite princess!)_

Catrine is a French variation on the name Catherine. Orla is a name that I heard on TV and liked (and if you add 'ndo' to the end of it you'll see another reason why I like it!) There was a girl at my school called Navali and my friend Serena has a younger sister called Marisa. Now Amalia is a name that I only discovered recently and instantly decided that I had to use. I was originally going to call the new baby Lyra after the heroine of Phillip Pullman's _His Dark Materials trilogy (whatever you do, read these books. They are amazing. And the end made me cry.) but I found the name Amalia in a book given to me by my aunt for my birthday. Amalia was the daughter of Empress Maria Teresa of the Holy Roman Empire and was the older sister of Maria Antonia, who was later known throughout the world and history books as the wife of King Louis XVI, Marie Antoinette. So there you go, you learn something every day! And there you were thinking you were just reading a simple Zelda story..._

Chapter 3: A Warning

It was a wellknown fact to all Kokiri that the most dangerous time of the year for someone to be out in the Forest at night was during the mating season of the wolves. Many a Kokiri child had nightmares inflicted by the constant howling and other chilling sounds that were heard, and more often than not they would congregate in Saria's house, bedrolls in hand, to participate in sleepovers underneath the watchful eye of the most loved member of the village. That and the fact that she could easily communicate with Link who would come out in the dead of night to stand watch outside the house and make sure they weren't attacked by wolves.

This summer however, it seemed that something had disturbed the beasts as the howls and snarls were louder and more violent than they had ever seemed before, and the beasts were as restless as they came, often prowling the outskirts of the village and scaring the Kokiri to a frenzy. The result was that most of the children had taken refuge in the Great Deku Tree's meadow, totally terrified. Most being the operative word, as not all the children in the Forest were so cautious as its natives.

One little girl who was allowed into the forest despite not being a Kokiri was Princess Orla, now seven years old and possessed of the same inquisitive spirit and love of adventure as her father. Link had been granted permission to let any of his children visit the forest without any hindrance or bad humour towards them, which was something that Orla took full advantage of, particularly when she and Navali were allowed to go off and explore together. Due to her parents' connections with the races in Hyrule, Orla was allowed plenty of freedom as her mother and father were well aware that she would always be watched out for by anyone in the area, be they Goron, Zora or Gerudo. She was about the most independent seven year old anyone was likely to meet with the only exception being Navali, who was the Princess' constant companion and fellow mischeif maker.

The dying sun began to cast the Kokiri forest in a golden glow as Orla and Navali began their trek back to the Kokiri Village. They'd spent the entire afternoon playing about in the tunnels and tormenting Deku Scrubs that they'd been unaware of how late it was getting. And how much trouble they would get into if either of them was late getting home.

"Ya know, I don't think I've been here when the forest was this quiet." Orla commented, munching on an apple which she'd had stored away in her pack. "Mido's nearly always telling me off for being somewhere I shouldn't."

Navali laughed and kicked a dirt clod across the clearing.

"Maybe he's worked out that he's fighting a losing battle. You practically own this forest anyway."

"No, the forest belongs to the Kokiri, just like the desert belongs to the Gerudo, the mountains belong to the Gorons and..."

"OK, OK, I get the picture!" Navali laughed. "Yeesh, you and you're whole royal education."

Orla arched an eyebrow in a manner perfectly reminiscent of her mother and grinned like her father.

"You're just jealous."

"Am not." Navali replied stubbornly. "I'm a Gerudo, jealousy isn't in my genes."

Orla giggled and gave her friend a shove.

"Yeah right, I saw how green you went when Alanya was given that scimitar."

Navali's eyes narrowed to catlike proportions as she stopped walking. Orla realised her mistake immediately and put her hand up to her mouth, her cheeks on fire.

"Oh Nav, I'm sorry..."

"Don't ever talk about her again."

Orla gave her friend a hug as a means of apology. Alanya was a Gerudo girl who had been born just before Navali and was hailed by nearly all of the adult Gerudo as the best fighter, thief and rider out of all the children. The fact remained that it was an outright lie, as Navali was better than the girl at all of those skills. But, as Alanya continued to inform her, she was never going to be considered the best at anything because she wasn't 'a real Gerudo.'

"Boy, I sure hope it's not as late as I think it is." Orla commented, looking up at the sky. "My folks are gonna kill me if I'm late."

Navali shrugged.

"If we're late, we're late. There's nothing they can do about it."

"Yeah, I guess."

Before either girl could say another word, a horrific shriek split the air, causing both to jump and look around them nervously. On instinct, Navali's hand had crept to her spiked staff that she carried for protection while Orla gripped the hilt of the sword upon her back. Both girls' parents had allowed their daughters to travel together without an adult, providing that they were armed in case anything should happen. Nabooru had entrusted a steel tipped staff to her daughter while Link had reclaimed his old Kokiri sword and immediately set about teaching his daughter how to fight.

"What was that?" Navali asked, taking up a fighter stance but still keeping a nervous tremour in her voice.

"Dunno, but it sounds close. Let's go check it out."

"K."

The two girls picked up their pace and ran through the forest in search of whatever had made the shriek. It was only when they charged into a secluded clearing that they realised their mistake.

******

"Dada!"

Zelda looked up from her book as her daughter squealed excitedly and smiled as her husband sat down beside her on the marble bench. She and Amalia had been enjoying the evening sunlight in a quiet corner of the garden, she was reading while Amalia was cheerfully throwing a ball up against the base of a statue and catching it with her chubby hands.

"Hi." She said softly, getting a chaste kiss from her husband as he sat next to her. "What brings you here?"

Link smiled and wrapped his arm around her waist.

"Oh I don't know, perhaps it was the allure of the most beautiful woman in Hyrule or maybe it was the prospect of a hot bath for two followed by an early night." He teased.

Zelda put her book down and smiled.

"You are impossible."

"No, I just happen to have an insatiable appetite for sex."

"Amalia sweetheart, come away from there." Zelda said quickly, getting up from the bench and going after the two year old who was standing perilously close to the stream.

Link rolled his eyes.

"Kids, who'd have 'em?"

Amalia giggled and toddled over to her father, grabbing hold of his leg and looking up at him with huge azure eyes and a big smile on her cherubic face. Zelda laughed and folded her arms, cocking her head to one side.

"Well, you know whose fault it is that we have them."

"Yes, it's yours for being so great in the sack."

Zelda shot him a withering look.

"No, it's yours for having, and I quote 'an insatiable appetite for...'"

"Zelda, not in front of the baby!" Link gasped in mock horror.

"Why not? You said it."

Link grinned sheepishly and frowned as Zelda tensed.

"What's the matter?" He asked.

His wife frowned and looked at him with confusion in her eyes.

"I don't know what it is, but I just got a really bad feeling."

Suddenly her expression changed to worry.

"Where's Orla?"

"Orla? She's with Navali, they'll be back any minute now."

"Something's wrong, I don't like it." Zelda whispered. "I think they're in trouble. Where are they?"

"Well they went into the forest, but like I said they should be back any minute, I told them not to stay out there when the sun began to set."

"They should be back by now." Zelda said softly. "Oh gods, what if something's gone wrong? What if..."

Something her husband had said registered abruptly in her head.

"The forest? But it's dangerous there, the wolves are mating. Why on earth didn't you tell them they couldn't go there?!"

"Zelda calm down." Link said, trying to remain optimistic. "I know the forest and the wolves don't come out until after dark. The girls will be fine."

Zelda's face was drawn into concern and she closed her eyes.

"I know that I might sound paranoid but I really think that something terrible is happening. Please, can't you go and find them?"

Link sighed and rolled his eyes.

"It's like I keep telling you, you're way too paranoid."

He kissed her cheek and made his way into the castle.

"Where are you going?" Zelda asked.

"To get the Ocarina and warp there. But you owe me big time for this."

Zelda smiled at him, but her expression changed back to worry as soon as he was gone. Amalia looked at her mother critically and then grinned.

"Olla."

Zelda smiled and ruffled the little girl's golden curls.

"Daddy's just gone to bring her home. Now what do you say I give you a bath, hm?"

******

"'Let's go check it out.'" Navali hissed sarcastically at her friend. "Any more bright ideas genius?"

Orla's eyes were fixated on the enormous wolf that was staring at them, its yellow eyes gleaming maliciously, fangs dripping with fresh blood. It had been bent over the carcass of a she-wolf as the girls had charged into the clearing and had stopped upon smelling their scent. What the two didn't know was that this was not a wolf they were staring at. 

It was a fully grown Wolfos.

"He looks hungry..." Orla began nervously.

"Uh huh."

"And mad."

"Uh huh."

The bushy fur on the Wolfos' hackles began to rise as a vicious snarl tore from the beast's throat. The girls took two steps back, never once taking their eyes from the animal. Orla's gaze flickered across the glade until she spied what it was the Wolfos had been devouring. The she-wolf was already dead, her belly ripped open savagely, but cowering behind her corpse the young princess spied a small cub, trembling in terror. She narrowed her eyes and gripped the hilt of the Kokiri Sword tighter.

"There are two of us and only one of it. Between us we can take it down."

"Are you crazy!?" Navali squeaked. "We're two seven year olds!"

"A seven year old Gerudo and the seven year old daughter of Link the Hero of Time and Zelda the Sage of Wisdom." Orla reminded her. 

Before Navali could react, Orla flew at the Wolfos, her sword extended and aiming right at the beast's chest. As she ran forward, so too did the animal, bounding across the glade at a deadly speed until it clashed with the princess. Orla's blade slashed across its chest, but due to her size and strength the damage was only several chunks of thick fur floating down to the ground. The beast reared up on its haunches and swiped at her with its murderous claws, missing by centimetres as the girl jumped backwards.

"Yikes! Little help?"

Navali was frozen to the spot, too terrified to move as the Wolfos, sensing her fear, began to advance on her. Orla felt anger bubbling beneath the surface and cried out furiously, flying at the creature and slamming the Kokiri Sword into its stomach as it prowled towards Navali. It yelped in pain and outrage and swung round to face Orla, slashing out with its claws and tearing into the flesh of the child's belly, instantly ripping the flimsy fabric of her purple tunic as her blood poured from the wound. 

Orla screamed in pain and doubled over, only to lift her head again with an expression on her face caused the Wolfos to hesitate slightly. Her face had darkened with anger and her dark blue eyes were shining with tears of discomfort and rage, but that didn't hide the fact that these eyes were filled with hatred. The Kokiri Sword in her left hand trembled and glowed white before the child thrust the sword at the Wolfos again, this time connecting with its jaw and sending its head upwards with a harsh snap and leaving its throat exposed. Wasting no time, the princess drew the blade across its throat and waited as it fell to the ground, unmoving. 

"Orla..." Navali began.

Orla sheathed her sword and breathed out heavily as she brushed a few sweat dampened strands of hair from her face.

"Are you OK?" She asked her.

Navali was staring at her with wide, amber eyes.

"How can you ask me that when you're bleeding like that?! You just saved my life!"

Orla laughed, not even panting for breath.

"No problem."

From behind the she-wolf's carcass, the small grey cub whimpered pitifully as it cringed in the corner, regarding both girls with terrified yellow eyes.

"The poor thing!" Navali murmured.

Orla slowly made her way towards it, extending her hand to the cub to make friends. It shrank backwards until Orla spoke to it in a soothing voice.

"It's OK little one, don't be afraid, I'm not going to hurt you."

She gently touched the cub between its ears and when she met with no protest she scooped it up with her free hand and cradled it to her chest.

"She's an orphan now." She said softly, looking sadly at the dead wolf.

Navali was looking at her friend in concern.

"Orla, forget the cub for a minute and look at yourself. You're bleeding!"

Orla looked at her blood covered tunic and chuckled softly.

"Heh, so I am."

"There's nothing funny about it!" Navali yelled. "You could have been killed!"

"I'd happily risk my life to save it rather than just stand there and wait to die. Did you see any other way out?" 

A low growl interrupted the conversation and instinctively both girls' eyes flew to the dead Wolfos. It still lay there but a second, bigger Wolfos was advancing with even more ferocious fangs than the last.

Orla stood up again, cradling the cub against her chest with her right arm and drawing her sword again with her left. She charged at the creature, sword extended as it had been the first time only her grip was slightly weaker due to fatigue. The Wolfos swiped at the blade and sent it spinning from the girl's hands.

"That's it. We're dead now. There's only one thing left to do." Navali cried.

With that, she opened her mouth and screamed as loud as she could as the Wolfos began to attack. From out of nowhere, a single arrow flew and embedded itself between the creature's eyes and it sank without complaint to the ground beside its partner. Overcome with relief and exhaustion, Orla flopped to the ground just as the archer charged up to the girls.

"Sweet gods I got here too late!" Link cursed, scooping his daughter up off the ground and into his arms. "Navali, what happened?"

Navali shrank under Link's gaze and tried to avoid his eyes.

"We heard a noise and Orla wanted to find out what it was and then there was this huge wolf and it attacked us and Orla killed it but it hurt her and..."

"Woah wait, time out." Link interrupted. "Orla killed that Wolfos?"

Navali nodded.

"She saved my life!"

The wolf cub was licking Orla's cheek and caused the exhausted princess to smile.

"Can I keep her Daddy?" 

Link held her tighter and kissed her with relief as he fished for a bottle of potion in his pack.

"You're going to have to ask your mother about that. Here, you better drink some of this, it'll make you feel better."

He was about to offer her the potion when he caught sight of Orla's wound and stopped short. The broken edges of the tunic were covered in crimson blood, showing where the wound should have been, but when he looked at Orla's flesh it was unmarked and as smooth as it had ever been. He couldn't disguise the frown on his face as he looked at Orla critically.

"Orla, did you have a fairy with you?"

Orla shook her head sleepily.

"No."

Navali was clutching Orla's sword, looking pale from shock.

"Come on girls, I think we should go home." Link said slowly. "Your mothers are going to kill me if you're late."

_And I have****__to talk to Zelda._

******

"A Wolfos?!" Zelda cried as she and Link checked on their sleeeping eldest daughter. It was the only chance they'd had to talk about the events of the evening by themselves. "Sweet goddesses it's a miracle she's still alive!"

"Zellie calm down." Link soothed, leading his wife from the room and closing the door. "Orla's fine, I saw to it myself. Right now there are a few questions that have to be answered."

Orla had fallen asleep on the way home from Gerudo Valley after dropping off Navali and was completely dead to the world. Link had been glad that she had, it gave him some time to think over the events of the day.

The first revelation was that there were now Wolfos prowling about the Kokiri Forest when not a single one had been seen in the kingdom since Ganon's defeat. Secondly, a seven year old girl had single handedly been able to kill one without being killed herself. Although Link was aware that he himself had been only ten when he'd first killed one, he had been no normal ten year old and had been considerably larger and stronger than his daughter. This was what was troubling him the most.

"Somehow Orla managed to kill a fully grown male Wolfos all by herself and I know that under normal circumstances no little girl her age could do that."

"I think I'll overlook your apparant sexism and agree with you." Zelda replied, looking back at Orla's bedroom door. "Which means that Orla's powers have given her physical abilities that a normal child wouldn't have."

"You read my mind." 

Zelda smiled.

"I didn't have to, it was written all over your face."

Link relaxed slightly as Zelda took his hand in hers and walked with him to their room.

"I got Navali to tell me everything that happened, every miniscule detail and two things keep bothering me."

Zelda nodded and opened the door before she followed her husband into the bedroom.

"The first thing is that Navali said that Orla's sword was glowing white just before she killed the Wolfos. Now I haven't taught her the Spin Slash yet and even if I had, the sword glows blue _not white."_

He sat down on the bed and was swiftly joined by his wife.

"The second thing is..."

"Orla's unnaturally fast and efficient healing abilities." Zelda interrupted. "And no, I didn't read you mind for that. There isn't a scar on her or anything and seeing as you only took a bottle of potion and no fairies then the only other explanation is that she did it herself."

Link cast her an astonished sideways glance.

"You never fail to amaze me."

Zelda smiled.

"It's a gift, what can I say."

"Yes, but you failed to mention the fact that she seemed to be completely unaware that she was hurt."

"Hmm." 

Zelda was silent for a moment and then rested her chin on her elbow, her brows knitted together in a frown.

"There's something else. The Wolfos. Why are they appearing now? I mean, it doesn't make any sense, I can't feel any immediate threat coming or dreamt about one so why are the beasts of evil massing like this?"

Link frowned too and then sighed, flopping backwards on the bed and staring up at the ceiling.

"Orla's dreams, Petranella, Wolfos... Man, what I wouldn't give to just be allowed a little time to myself and get on with raising my family without any evil interruption, premonitions or hidden powers."

Zelda lay on top of him, upholding her weight on her elbows and brushing his hair behind his ears with her fingertips while looking adoringly at him.

"Life without anything heavier than the occasionally childish tantrum. How incredibly boring." She sighed. "And without anything to fight you'd get incredibly flabby around here."

She pinched his stomach and then squealed in surprise as he flipped her onto her back and began to tickle her.

"Link get off! Argh, stop it..." She cried, giggling helplessly like a schoolchild. "I mean it!"

Link grinned evilly and pinned her wrists above her head before kissing her suggestively and murmuring with laughter as he heard her contented sigh from beneath his lips.

"Who wants normal when abnormality got me you?" He asked her, stroking her cheek with the back of his hand.

"Hmm, you're about as abnormal as they come." Zelda teased. "I'm going to punished for that remark aren't I?"

"Most severely. Yes."

******

A very pale light surrounded her while she stood in the presence of a small, childlike character who she couldn't see properly. Her hair fell unadorned over her shoulders while she was dressed simply in a white dress with no jewellry or shoes on her feet.

"Where are we?" She asked, addressing her companion for the first time.

The child, dressed in the same way as she was, stared at her with bright eyes and a broad but sad smile on her face.

"This is the very heart of the Sacred Realm. You were brought here because it is the will of the Gods that you receive this warning."

Zelda hid her surprise with a nod.

"Then, would you do me the honour of telling me with whom I am speaking?"

The child curtsied low and stood proudly before the Princess.

"My name is Endeffera."

Zelda gasped and was unable to do anything but stare at the spirit of the demi-goddess.

"You are scared. You are also worried for our wellbeing, wondering if we will die when we are forced to use our powers. You are also torn between your two children for fear that we shall be jealous and unleash our powers." Endeffera stated quietly.

_Our?_

"When you say 'our,' do you mean my daughter and you?"

Endeffera nodded.

"The time will soon be at hand. Not because of your second child but because this has already been ordained by the heavens. You will be unable to stop what will happen, and when all hope is lost, turn to your husband's darkest fear. We will do the rest."

"But..."

"Whether or not we live is a different matter."

Zelda felt a chill go through her and she attempted to plead with the spirit.

"Please, I need to know. What will happen when the time comes? What's going to happen to Orla?"

"We will serve our purpose." Endeffera said simply. "Full and complete, what was started all those years before will end."

"What are you saying?" Zelda asked.

"Mortis will come." Endeffera said quietly. "When the stars are in the right alignment, Mortis will come to try and take your world for his own, and when he succeeds, he will try to take the Sacred Realm too."

"Mortis. The God of Death and Darkness." Zelda repeated. "But when you defeated him, he began nothing but a shadow, he's nowhere near powerful enough to break out..."

"In asking the question you have answered it yourself." Endeffera said cryptically. "Power."

"Ganondorf." 

The child nodded.

"He is feeding off the power of Din's Triforce. Had my mother and aunts known that their powers would be so badly misused then they would never have created the Triforce."

"But it was Link and I who put Ganondorf into the Evil Realm." Zelda said softly. "It's all my fault."

"No." Endeffera soothed. "It was not your actions that resulted in this. It is Mortis who engineered this and it is he who is to blame."

"Does Ganon know that Mortis is doing this? I can't see him sacrificing any of his power willingly..."

"You are correct, he does not. But for many years now the one called Ganondorf Dragmire has been growing in power and it has not escaped my uncle's eye. He has been ciphering this energy himself and will use it to break into the world on the night of _nox nocte."_

"Shadow Night. That is when it will happen?"

Endeffera nodded.

"We need to be ready, and you must guide us. You are the most powerful sorceress on the plain of mortals, only you can train us. Maybe then we can finally be at peace."

"So Orla will die!" Zelda cried. "No please, I beg you..."

"I cannot change what will happen." Endeffera said sadly. "And I do not know of our fate. If it brings you peace then I can say this; the Gods will do what is best for all involved."

"But..."

"Be at peace now, Zelda of Hyrule. I shall keep you here no longer."

******

Zelda's eyes flew open with a start, but she didn't move or speak. Beside her Link was sleeping, his arm draped around her waist and his body pressed up against hers while his chin rested on her shoulder. She could feel his breath on the back of her neck. She almost wished that he was awake so that she could talk to him, but at the same time was struck by something Endeffera had said.

_Only you can train us._

This was something that she needed to do by herself. If she needed his help then she would go to him for it, but there was no need to wake him up to tell him that. It could wait until morning.

She sighed and closed her eyes again, trying to get back to sleep. It had been an extremely perplexing day, and even at its close Zelda was still confused and bewildered. She had learnt a lot that day, especially where Orla was concerned. When Link had told her about the Wolfos, Zelda had briefly toyed with the idea that somehow she and her daughter were psychically connected but had dismissed it as being purely a one off. But after speaking with Endeffera now she wasn't quite so convinced. She would experiment with the idea further in the morning, when her training with Orla would begin.


	4. Orb Games

Disclaimer: Am I named Shigeru Miyamoto? No. Do I in anyway work with Nintendo? No. Am I likely to ever be in the position to say I can own Zelda? Not yet, but give me time...

A.N: OK Mazz, in telling me that Evangelion is being shown on Sci-Fi channel you forgot two important details: When and What Time? Thankyou! And Bonnie, the Gundam Wing quote was unintentional. I used that line long before I even knew what a Gundam was, God forbid that there even was such a time! (Hugs her recently purchased Gundam Wing DVD) Long live Japan and all that's created there!

I got my GCSE results. In reverse order: 1C, 4Bs, 4As and 1 A*! Yay!

There's heaps more at the end, so stick around, there's something very important that you all need to read.

Chapter 4: Orb Games

Like many things sacred to individuals, sleep is a person's practically divine right to do nothing but rest and relax for as long as they choose to do so and if the individual wishes, then nothing can rouse them (with the exception of irritating blue fairies that have a tendency to say 'hey!' excessively loudly). These people often become notorious for their heavy sleeping nature. Link was one of these people.

And Orla was another.

Which made Zelda's job the morning following her encounter with Endeffera considerably harder than she had first anticipated.

It was early morning when the Princess made her way into her daughter's bedroom, and she was unsurprised to discover the girl fast asleep underneath her blankets with her blonde bangs falling in her eyes and her mouth open slightly as she breathed heavily in her sleep. Zelda allowed herself a fond glance at her child, taking a moment to remember the state that Orla's father had been in as she had slipped out from their bed ten minutes earlier. Blonde hair falling in his eyes, his lips slightly parted and his bare chest rising and falling as the sheets that covered him began to slip and fall as he had shifted slightly. His wife smiled at that thought; she never had been able to resist the opportunity to see him in what they reffered to as 'a compromising position.' 

Shaking all thoughts of that nature from her head, Zelda knelt besides her daughter's bed and gently shook her awake. Orla murmured in protest as she stirred and opened her eyes wearily, trying to work out exactly what was going on and failing dismally.

"Orla sweetheart, time to get up," Zelda said softly.

Orla groaned and rolled over, bringing the blankets up over her head as she did so. Zelda bit back her laughter and tried again.

"Orla, it's time to wake up."

Again, she was met with another murmur.

This calls for desperate measures.

"Orla, Daddy's eating all of your chocolate."

Orla sat bolt upright, all traces of sleep leaving her in an instant and then she paused and looked around her.

"No he's not..."

Zelda was shaking with laughter and didn't stop even, when her disgruntled daughter folded her arms and pouted.

"That was not funny."

Her mother stopped laughing with a sigh and then kissed her daughter's cheek.

"I know it wasn't, but you wouldn't wake up for any other reason would you?"

Orla opened her mouth to protest but couldn't think of anything to actually _say in protest. So she just scowled._

"I'm sorry I had to wake you up so early, but there's something that you and I have to do without interruption."

"What?" Orla asked quizzically, cocking her head to one side.

"I'm going to teach you how to use magic."

The eyes of the seven year old princess lit up like torches.

"Wow! Really?"

Zelda nodded.

"Really, but this is going to be our little secret alright?"

Orla nodded ecstactically.

"Can I bring Fang?"

After much carefuly thought and deliberation, Orla and Navali had come up with the name Fang for the cub despite the fact that she was a girl and was also to be a member of the royal household. But Orla was adamant that the wolf was to be Fang, so Fang she was.

Zelda cast a glance at the sleeping cub who was curled up in a wooden crate lined with blankets.

"It would be better not to, this could get dangerous."

At that comment, Orla's grin broadened to immense proportions.

"Cool!"

******

"Close your eyes and reach out with your mind to the spirits of every living thing. Everything contains magic Orla, and you need to be able to feel that before you can control your own."

Orla scrunched her eyes tightly shut and concentrated as her mother said, clenching her fists tightly and urging herself to sense what she'd been told to. But even as she did so, a tiny voice in the back of her mind was sceptical and it was that voice that was speaking to her now.

_This is stupid._

**_No it is not._**

Orla's eyes flew open wide with a start at the sound of the strange voice and she was terrified to see herself standing stock still with her eyes shut. It was then that she realised that she was hovering some distance about her body, looking down at the scene that consisted of mother and daughter standing in the courtyard.

_What is this?!_

**_This is you. Your spirit is flying. That is one of our gifts._**

_Gifts?****_

**_Yes, our gifts. We have many._**

_Woah wait a minute, we? ****_

**_Yes, we._**

_So what are you, my conscience or something? Why can't I see you?****_

**_Because I am part of your spirit. Part of you. _**

At this Orla began to panic, even as a spirit. It had frightened her enough to see herself standing there, but now hearing that there was something else in her spirit scared her rigid. Even as a spirit.

_So if you're a part of me, then how come you've not talked to me before?_

**_I have not needed to. There was no urgency._**

_Urgency for what?_

**_Urgency for you to understand our power. You need to understand it, you need to know how to use it. You need to Orla.___**

_Why? What's so great 'bout me? It's not like I have a Triforce or anything..._

At that point the voice was silent.

**_Ask the Sage of Wisdom._**

Orla began to feel herself float downwards and closed her eyes. When she opened them again, she was looking at her mother who had an anxious look on her face and was kneeling in front of her.

"Orla, are you alright?"

The girl frowned.

"Mama, what's so special about my power?"

Zelda's eyes widened in surprise before she nodded.

"Why do you ask?"

"Because I want to know why I have to understand my power and why I have to know how to use it."

Zelda remained very still for a moment, her eyes fixated on her child.

"Who told you about your power?" She whispered.

Orla took the fear in Zelda's eyes to be a bad thing.

"I... I don't know who it was. It was a voice."

Zelda closed her eyes and breathed deeply before she looked Orla straight in the eye.

"You have to understand your power so that you'll be safe," she said eventually. "And so that everyone else will be safe. That's why I'm teaching you how to control magic, so that you'll know how to use your powers when the time comes."

"Time for what?"

Zelda sighed and hugged her daughter close to her.

"I really don't know, I wish I did but I have no idea what will happen."

She kissed her cheek and smiled at her.

"Now, let's try and get you to make a magic orb before we go in and have breakfast."

Orla nodded and closed her eyes again, doing as Zelda had told her before but only with a greater deal of concentration than she had before. Everything around her felt still and quiet, the previous sounds of birdsong becoming a distant memory as a sense of total calm eveloped her. Zelda watched her intently, never once removing her eyes from her daughter. All of a sudden, Orla's eyes snapped open with a start.

"I can feel it. I can feel the magic."

Zelda nodded.

"Try to search your own being for that same feeling and then once you find that magic then channel it through your body until you can almost feel it, until you can almost touch it with your fingertips."

Orla frowned.

"How do I do that?"

Zelda smiled and stood up, brushing the dried grass off her skirt and then turning her palms skywards.

"Watch."

She closed her eyes and took a deep breath before a pale pink haze began to form over her hands. Orla watched in amazement as the pink changed colour to gold and tiny flecks of white light began to appear from nowhere. They began to meld together and with a small flash a circular white orb hovered above Zelda's palm, casting a pale glow over the princess's hand. She opened her eyes and smiled at her daughter whose eyes were wide open in surprise.

"You want me to do _that?" She squeaked._

Zelda laughed softly and let the magic go.

"I know it seems daunting, but it's easy when you get it. Trust me."

"That's easy for you to say, you're a grown up _and you've got a Triforce!"_

Zelda smiled.

"When I started to use magic, I was even younger than you were." 

"You were?"

"Mmm hmm. I was about five when I first used my magic."

"How did you do that? Was it an accident or something?"

Zelda nodded.

"Yes, yes it was. I was playing in Goron City one day when Grandfather was talking to Darunia when I heard a noise coming from one of the passages and I wanted to investigate, so I did. The thing is, when I got to the other end of the passage I wasn't in Goron City, I was standing in the middle of a forest."

"The Lost Woods, there's a secret passageway in Goron City that would take you directly there."

"I know that now, but at the time I was totally lost and to make matters worse there was an extremely large Deku Baba staring me in the face."

"Woah, what happened?" Orla breathed.

"Well, I took a deep breath and then I screamed as loud as I possibly could," Zelda smiled. "And then as the thing attacked me, I put my arms up to stop it and I felt something explode from my hands."

"Magic?"

Zelda nodded.

"Yes. I opened my eyes and then I saw the Deku Baba standing rigid in front of me, surrounded by white light and then it disintegrated."

"Wow, really?"

Zelda nodded again and smiled.

"Come on, give it a try. You'll be fine, I promise."

Orla smiled and closed her eyes, turning her palms upright and biting her bottom lip. Beads of perspiration formed at her brow as she began to frown.

"Relax Orla, don't force it. It will come."

Orla nodded and tried to do as she was told, and once again attempted to put herself back into the calm state of mind that she had been in before. Once again, all the sounds around her began to evaporate as she searched for her own magic.

There.

She felt it like a small spark of electricity that send goosebumps up her arms. A little gasp of surprise escaped her and then all of a sudden the spark was gone.

"You've lost it," Zelda said quietly.

Orla looked at her mother in surprise.

"How did you know that?"

Zelda smiled.

"I could sense it. You weren't expecting it and your surprise made you lose your focus on the magic. Now that you know how it feels, you won't be surprised and you'll be able to control it."

Orla's eyes closed and Zelda continued to watch, smiling to herself. The girl was handling this better than she'd hoped, even better than she had when she first tried to call upon her magic. It was true what she had told her about the Deku Baba, but after that it had taken her at least a month to find that spark again.

She felt a small magic presence begin to build and turned her attention back to Orla. A pale blue haze was forming over her hands, and the girl's eyes were open like saucers as she watched. The white flecks appeared and then merged, producing a tiny white orb no bigger than a Cucco's egg.

"Wow!" Orla breathed.

Zelda smiled and reformed an orb herself.

"Very good, now that you have an orb I want you to keep your mind focused on keeping it. When you've done that, do as I'm doing."

She kept her gaze even and lowered her hands, keeping the orb hovering in the same place as if being held by an invisible thread. Then, very slowly, the orb began to rise slightly in the air, white flecks of light spiralling around it as it levitated and then came to rest above Zelda's head.

"There. Simple controlled levitation. All you need to do is think 'up' and it will move up."

Orla frowned but then stared hard at the orb.

"Up."

She dropped her hands and gasped as the orb began to fall before her eyes narrowed.

"I said up!"

The orb wavered and stopped, hovering inches from the ground. Orla bgan to raise her hand, and as she did the orb began to wobble and float upwards very slowly, following the movements of the child's hand. Zelda watched in absolute amazement as the orb came to rest above Orla's head, twinkling in the early morning sunlight.

"Orla, I think I might have underestimated you," she mumbled.

******

Link murmured softly and rolled over, flinging his arm out to wrap around Zelda's waist. It hit the mattress with a soft thud and caused the sleepy young man to open his eyes slowly.

"Zel?"

He sat up and looked around, shielding his eyes from the sunlight that was filtering in through the window. Zelda wasn't around, he assumed that Amalia had woken up early and that she was with her.

"Never mind, I'll just have to convince her to come back to bed."

He tossed the sheets back and pulled on the closest article of clothing he could find before a shrill peal of laughter caught his attention. Going over to the window, he met with the sight of Zelda and Orla in the courtyard, the younger running away from a pale white sphere of light that had probably been produced by the elder. He smiled and leant against the window ledge, watching the pair of them happily and at the same time feeling a little confused and hurt as to why he hadn't been included in their game.

"Mama! Dada!"

Link sighed as he heard Amalia's demanding voice from across the corridor and headed in that direction to get her. She was standing upright in her cot, smiling widely while clutching an unfortunate toy rabbit by the ear.

"Dada!"

"Good morning angel baby," he replied, scooping the cherubic little girl out from her cot. "Ready to face your adoring public?"

Amalia thrust the long suffering stuffed toy at her father.

"For oo!"

"Me? Oh you shouldn't have," he laughed. "I think he wants to go back to you now."

Amalia giggled and flung her small arms around her father's neck.

"Bath!"

Link smiled.

"Oh alright. If you insist Your Highness."

Link kissed her head and ruffled her blonde curls.

"Come on then beautiful, let's get you in a bath. Are you going to walk or am I going to have to carry you?"

Amalia held onto him tighter and smiled.

"Lazy bones."

The little girl giggled and babbled senselessly to herself while Link carried her to the bathtub. She was incredibly talkative, even if half of what she said made no sense at all.

_Link..._

Link snapped to attention as a voice sounding like wind blowing through dry leaves called to him. Holding Amalia closer to him instinctively, he turned around to try and spot the source of the voice.

There was no one there apart from him and his daughter.

"Weird."

Amalia was silent and looking at her father in surprise.

"Weird?"

Link nodded and carried on his way.

_I'm still here, waiting. _

"OK, this is getting ridiculous. Who's there?"

Again, there was nobody there.

_You can turn your back on me, but I'm here, waiting. You know that I am._

Link froze and clutched held Amalia so tightly that she whimpered.

"Show yourself!"

_You know where I am, I'm right where you left me. And I'm still waiting._

"Who are you?"

_You know who I am._

"Obviously I don't, otherwise I wouldn't have asked you," Link replied dryly.

_Nox nocte._

"What?"

_The night when you'll turn to me for help._

"I'm asking you again: who are you?"

_Your darkest fear, and yet your strongest ally._

Link frowned.

"Why don't you just tell me who you are?"

_Your own personal demon._

"If this is some kind of trick Ganon, then I'm not impressed," Link growled.

_Ganon? Oh you flatter me but no. I'm not him._

Amalia squirmed nervously in her father's arms, not comfortable in his tight grasp.

"Then who?"

"Daddy!"

Orla charged up the stairs and ran towards her father with Zelda following. She smiled at the sight of her husband and youngest daughter and moved to kiss him good morning.

"Who were you talking to?"

Link sighed and shrugged.

"Just myself."

Zelda looked at him sceptically.

"It's the first sign of madness you know."

Orla nodded in agreement.

"And the second sign of madness is getting purple spots on your hands."

"What?" Link asked, looking down at his hands.

"The third sign of madness is looking for them!" Orla giggled.

Zelda laughed softly and then smiled at the frown on Link's face.

"Don't tease your father Orla, you know he doesn't like it."

"You tease him though," Orla argued.

Zelda smirked.

"Do as I say, not as I do."

"Mama!" Amalia shouted pointedly.

Zelda laughed and kissed her daughter.

"Yes, good morning sweetheart."

Amalia smiled and then wriggled as an indication that she wanted to get down. Link did just that and the two year old toddled over to her sister and smacked her lips in a way that suggested she wanted to give her sibling a kiss. Orla smiled and bent down so that she could and then repeated the gesture.

"Come on Ama, do you want some breakfast?"

"Breffast!"

"Are you going to take her?" Zelda asked.

Orla nodded.

"Yeah. Is that OK?"

"That's fine. Daddy and I will be down in a minute." 

Orla took Amalia's hand and the two wandered off in the direction of the stairs. Zelda smiled before turning her attention to Link.

"What's the matter? I know that you don't talk to yourself, and even if you did then you would certainly not be asking yourself who you were, nor would you be calling yourself Ganon."

"Did Orla hear?"

Zelda shook her head.

"Not the Ganon part. You'd better be more careful otherwise she'll be asking questions, Amalia too, and I thought we agreed that Ganon was something we'd keep secret from them."

Link nodded.

"I'm sorry, it's just that some weird voice was talking to me and I had no idea who or what it was."

Zelda froze.

"Did it say anything that might have suggested who it was?"

Link shrugged.

"Only that it was my own personal demon..."

His voice trailed off and his eyes narrowed.

"Dark Link."

"Dark Link? Are you sure?"

"Who else would it be? I _had to be him."_

Zelda looked around them nervously.

"It couldn't be Dark Link, there's no way he'd still be around."

"He said that I'd turn to him on _nox nocte."_

"_Nox nocte," Zelda repeated. "Link, is Dark Link your darkest fear?"_

Link laughed.

"Dark Link? No way! OK so he's supposed to be my evil twin, but Ganon obviously had a lousy opinion of me if he was supposed to be _me."_

"Hmm."

Link looked at Zelda for a moment and then frowned.

"What is _nox nocte?"_

"_Nox nocte is what we've been dreading for eight years," Zelda said grimly._

"And it is..?" Link prompted.

"The night we may lose Orla."

******

_Names again: Someone wanted to know why Orla was named after Olaran when his name wasn't __Orlaran. Well, Orla sounds prettier than Ola (and if you look back to Chapter 10 of HoH, Ola is Cordelia's nickname for Olaran) and Olarania is a bit of a sucky name too so I chose Orla (Olara sounds like cholera, don't you think?). I realised last night that having put that Theoden was a name I'd thought up, I remembered that I __didn't make it up, it's the name of the King of Rohan in The Two Towers ( I can't wait for that movie!) and I'd forgotten because I didn't really pay any attention to any character whose name wasn't Legolas. So I thought I'd mention it before any Tolkien-ites sue me._

But now I've got bad news. Getting those grades means that I've got into my new sixth form in Canterbury. I am going to have a very heavy workload in working towards AS and A Levels and I will also be boarding. Both things mean that I am not going to be able to write as often as you or I would hope, which means that until I get weekend exeats and holidays that there will be no updates from me for a very long time. Please don't hate me or hold me to my word over this, as I am not one hundred percent sure what the next two academic years hold for me as I have never boarded before, but please rest assured that I will try my damndest to update as often as I possibly can. Just to let you know though that if I practically vanish from the site that I will be back in October when I will have a half-term holiday and I will always have the occasional week-end at home to write. Do not think that I am ending my account because I am not. I LOVE to write, I love to read and I especially love to read what you think of my work and I intend to stick around the fanfiction scene for a very long time to come. Even if I didn't get the A* in English. I got it in Drama. I'm so going to try and become an actress!


	5. Dangerous Power

Disclaimer: The only things Zelda-esque that are owned by anime animal are: 1x Ocarina of Time, 1x Majora's Mask, 1x Link's Awakening DX, 1x Oracle of Ages, 1x Super Smash Bros, 1x Super Smash Bros Melee, 1x Link Lolly, 1x Link Pez-style candy dispenser thingy from Greece and several sheets of paper with Zelda related doodles. Other than that, it's all Shigsy's.

A.N: A ridiculously long time to leave the story without updating, but you have no idea how much my new teachers are making me work. Plus I've been so caught up in trying to understand AS level French (mon nouveau bete noire- and I don't care about the lack of accents), reading the Odyssey, the Agamemnon, Merchant of Venice AND trying to understand Chaucer that writer's block had kicked in well and truly. And I've had this bastard of a cough for about a month now. Oh, and I was in Greece all last week. BUT I will be hopefully updating quite a bit this week, (hopefully) and should before going back to school be up to Chapter Seven (again, hopefully). An unbelievably cool idea has just struck me for this fic, so with any luck I'll get this fic wrapped up in time for Christmas. Please excuse that appalling pun. It's terrible.

Chapter 5: Dangerous Power

"Oof!"

Navali hit the ground with a thud and an ugly squelch as her pristine white clothes became daubed in mud. Behind her, a chorus of high pitched laughter rang out and caused the now furious young Gerudo to look scornfully behind her.

"Aw, the little mongrel has fallen down and hurt herself," Alanya teased, flicking her ponytail over her shoulder.

Her two cronies laughed at the comment while Navali sat up and wiped the mud from her face. Her hands trembled with anger and humiliation while her face displayed a look of intense hatred.

"You shouldn't have done that," she growled.

Alanya paused from her laughter and cocked her head in mock curiosity.

"Oh and why's that? Because you're gonna tell your mother and get me punished? Unlikely, no-one's going to favour the word of bad blood like you over someone like me!"

She began to laugh again before something flashed in front of her and sent her flying back into a second muddy puddle. She cried out in indignation and glowered at the thrower of the offending object.

Ranlink Ferras stood alone with a Deku Nut in his hands and an angry scowl on his face.

"How dare you!" Alyana cried.

Her two friends, Cirys and Xera, took up their wooden staffs and glared at the boy. The humiliation that the best of their race had been felled by a Deku Nut was bad enough, but the fact that the nut had been hurled by a _boy was disgusting._

"My mother told me never to pick on girls, but I don't think you three count," Ranny snapped. "And you Alanya, well I haven't seen a better cow than you even on a farm!"

Alanya screamed withrage and flew at the boy, forgetting all her fight training and resorting to scratches and pulling hair. Ranny's face was grim with determination as used his surperior strength to throw the Gerudo girl off before he was pounced upon by her cronies. By this stage, Navali had got herself up out of the mud and was yelling a flurry of words in a language that Ranny didn't understand, although Alanya was responding to them with her own verbal onslaught.

"Hey, what's goin' on over there?" 

The brawling stopped immediately as a voice called out and before Ranlink was given a moment to blink, Alanya and her friends had vanished. A Gerudo in her mid teens took one look at Navali and Ranny and nodded her head.

"Oh yeah, I thought it might be you. What did you do this time, bad blood?"

Navali blushed furiously and looked at her feet while the sentry stared at Ranlink.

"You know that you're violating Gerudo law by bringing that Hylian here."

"No I'm not!" Navali protested. "And I didn't bring him here!"

"Silence! I shall inform Ura of your behaviour and then we shall see what happens. Nabooru's daughter or not, you'll be punished for this, bad blood."

She stalked off, leaving Navali to glare at Ranlink. 

"What the hell did you think you were doing?!" She snapped.

Ranny looked hurt.

"Hunh?"

"I could've handled it! Now you've made it worse for me!"

"I was only trying to help..."

"Well I didn't need it! Now I'm gonna get teased for being helped by a _boy and Ura's going to have it in for me even more than she does at the moment."_

"Who's Ura?" Ranlink asked quietly.

"Who's Ura?!" Navali stormed. "Ura is the one person who is going to make my life miserable because of this! She's my teacher!"

"Well I'll just talk them out of it," Ranny grinned. "I'll say that it's all been a big misunderstanding and that I was only helping because Alanya pushed you into the mud."

Navali's glare didn't shift.

"And they'll believe you. Huh, don't make me laugh."

Ranlink looked at her curiously.

"Why wouldn't that work?"

"Because you're a _boy and I'm bad blood. Ura would pick Alanya's story over the truth any day."_

She sighed and brushed the mud off her nose.

"What are you doing here anyway? I thought you were still at your place."

Ranny grinned again.

"Well, me and my family are staying at the castle for a bit. Orla's busy and she asked me to come and get you so we can go swimming."

"Busy with what?" Navali asked quizzically.

Ranny shrugged.

"I dunno, she said that 'It was a matter of upmost urgency and that it couldn't be disturbed.'"

He sighed and rolled his eyes.

"Is it just me, or is she turning into a proper princess?"

It was Navali's turn to shrug and she did so.

"It's just you. Orla always goes into princess mode when she's got something important to do."

"Hmm."

"I'm gonna get my pony, you wait here," Navali instructed.

"Oh, OK."

Navali began to walk off, but as she did so she cast a look over her shoulder at Ranny.

"Hey, thanks. For what you did. No-one's ever stood up for me before."

Ranny blushed unconciously.

"It was nothin', forget it."

Navali smiled and went to get her pony.

******

Everything was silent and totally still. A cool breeze stirred the young princess' hair but didn't deter her from her cause. She stood still and focused, her eyes closed and her breathing even, waiting.

She felt it before she had even become accustomed to her current state of serenity and waited for a few more moments. All the while, her mother stood against the wall, watching intently both her daughter and the orb she had created for her to find. Her mind controlled its random pattern of motion as it circled the courtyard. It was completely invisible to all but her, and it was Orla's task to discover it and reveal it using her own skills.

"There!" 

With a sudden cry, Orla spun on her heel and hurled a fine mist of blue light towards a seemingly blank space of air. Nothing happened.

"No, you were too slow," Zelda reprimanded. "You went for where it was, not where it would have been. The orb is constantly moving, you must sense the speed and the direction as well as the location."

Orla's breathing had become heavier as she scowled.

"I know, and I did! It must have swerved or something 'cause it was definitely there!"

"Yes it _was there, but now..."_

Zelda snapped her fingers and the pink orb flashed into view.

"...It is here."

Orla groaned in fatigue and exasperation.

"This is impossible."

Zelda smiled at her daughter and hugged her.

"No sweetheart, it's not impossible. It's just a little complicated, but you're doing so well for your first try."

Orla sighed and snuggled into her mother's embrace.

"Can we stop now?"

Zelda nodded and kissed the top of her daughter's head.

"You're right, that's enough for today. You go along to the lake."

Orla laughed.

"Thanks Mama."

"Have a good time and take care."

"Sure will. C'mon Fang!"

The little wolf pricked up her ears and bounded after her mistress with as much energy as the little girl. Zelda smiled and dispelled the magic orb, letting out a sigh of relief as she did so.

_Nobody ever said this would be easy._

She wandered over to the small channel of water that surrounded the courtyard and kicked off her shoes before dipping her feet into the crystal clear liquid. It was cool and served as a perfect solution to the uncharacteristically warm spring morning's heat.

"Mind if I join you?"

Zelda smiled and nodded to her sister-in-law's request. Catrine removed her shoes and delicately dipped her toes into the spring beside the Princess.

"Impa's showing Ama and Ellie the new flowerbed," she informed Zelda. "And then I am certain that they'll blackmail her into taking them somewhere else."

Zelda laughed softly.

"Toddlers, the world's most devious and deceptive villains."

"Gods don't let Aidyn catch you saying anything like that about his little girl, he'd go nuts," Catrine laughed. "Elise has him wrapped around her little finger."

"Must be in the genes, Amalia's just the same."

"What about Orla?"

Zelda smiled.

"Orla's too much like her father to bother with all that 'daddy's little girl' act, although I'm not ruling it out until after puberty."

Catrine laughed and looked across at Zelda.

"You look tired, are you OK?"

"I'm fine," Zelda replied, smiling at her concern. "I have a lot on my mind at the moment."

"Care to unburden any of it on me?"

"I don't even understand half of it myself, Catrine."

******

He was being ignored, and he hated it. They knew he was there, and yet they continued to ignore him.

No-one got away with ignoring him.

But they'd regret ignoring him, he'd see to that. They'd beg him for his help, the woman with tears in her eyes and her proud and unwavering husband galled and ashamed to be giving in to him. And the satisfaction that he'd get from it would be wonderful.

But then he'd have a task that not even he wanted. The battle coming up would be hard, but it was not the fight that bothered him. He existed to fight, it was in his blood to do so. But there would be too many complex emotions involved in the battle ahead.

Emotions were something he failed to understand. They were too violent, there was no logic to them. But then again, the mortals were always praising many of them. Joy, Pleasure, Happiness and the one they praised above all, Love. They used the phrase all the time, during times of intimacy and at times when they were with their daughters. He just didn't understand it.

Not that he wanted to of course. The hour would soon be at hand, and he'd be able to live again. He hated this borrowed existence almost as much as he hated being ignored, but it was still a better existence than no existence at all.

_Nox Nocte was soon to fall upon them, and then he'd be back, he'd fight once more._

Her soul would finally be saved, and to him that was all that mattered.

******

Fang dozed contentedly beside Orla's discarded boots as the three children sprawled out on the bank, their damp clothes drying in the late morning sun. The sun beamed down onto the landscape, dancing on the ever moving surface like impatient fairies. Orla kicked her heels against the earth and breathed deeply, her eyes watching the clouds above her. A pair of birds darted across the sky, gliding through the air like a Zora through water.

"Have you ever wondered what it would be like to fly?"

"What?!"

Both Ranny and Navali sat up and stared at the Princess with confused frowns on both their faces.

"Orla, have you been sneaking into the wine cellar again?" Ranny asked.

Orla smiled to herself and closed her eyes.

"No I haven't cousin dear. I'm just thinking about how it would feel to just fly like a bird with no responsibility, no worries..."

"No good blood or bad blood," Navali sighed. "It would be great."

Ranny's fists balled unnoticed at the sadness in her tone.

"Navali, you've gotta stop this. It's not fair."

"Tell me 'bout it, but I can't do anything. My mom can't do anything about it, and she's the leader."

"Hey Orla, why don't you get your grandfather to put a stop to it?" Ranny suggested.

Orla sighed.

"No good. Grandfather is the King of Hyrule and it is his duty to see that laws are enforced and that each race is governed fairly. He can't interfere with each races traditions and rites, and Gerudo law is pretty complex."

"Tell me about it," Navali grumbled. 

"Well there's gotta be something..." Ranlink mumbled.

"What's it to you anyway?" Navali asked, staring at him unblinkingly. "It's not like you're affected. You're a guy."

Ranny blushed.

"I just don't like seeing people get treated badly," he murmured.

Orla threw an arm around her cousin's shoulder.

"Don't worry Ranny, we'll sort Alanya out. The three of us, we'll show her what a mistake it is to pick on a Sage's daughter."

Navali smiled.

"Thanks you guys."

Fang yawned sleepily and then suddenly jumped to her feet as the three ponies stopped cropping at the grass and turned to look at something. Navali tensed as she recognised three Gerudo girls coming towards them. Ranny got to his feet, trying to make himself look tough.

"If they just try it then I'll make them sorry they ever came here," he growled.

Navali rolled her eyes and got up as well.

"Ranlink Ferras, you'll do no such thing. You are going to stay out of it," Orla ordered him.

"This is my fight," Navali said softly.

Alanya advanced upon them, Xera and Cirys behind her. Orla noticed that each of them was carrying something that looked like a leather thong whip and instantly became wary. She'd left her sword in her room in the castle and Navali and Ranlink were both unarmed. She only hoped that things wouldn't get ugly.

"Well what do we have here girls?" Alanya taunted, tapping her whip against her palm. "Looks like bad blood's out with her little boyfriend again."

The other two girls giggled while Navali's face grew dark with rage.

"He's _not my boyfriend," she growled._

Orla's eyes were narrowed and observing the newcomers icily. Alanya noticed her for the first time and chuckled softly.

"Hey girls, looks like bad blood can't get any real friends and has to resort to _Hylians. Pathetic."_

Orla said nothing, biting her tongue in order to do so.

"I mean, look at that one," she said, gesturing at Orla with the handle of her whip. "It looks more like some scrawny rat than a Hylian."

"You'd better watch what you say..." Ranny began.

"Leave it Ran," Orla said quietly, not once breaking eye contact with Navali.

"Alanya, leave them out of it," Navali snapped. 

Alanya laughed haughtily.

"No, I think it's kind of fun. I mean, even though you're bad blood you've still got some Gerudo in you. Not these two _weaklings, they're pure scum."_

"Why you-" Ranlink snarled, lunging forwards.

Orla stuck her arm out to prevent him from attacking and then lowered it. Her stance and gaze were as cool as ice.

"Tell me, what position of authority does your mother hold?" She asked Alanya sweetly.

Alanya was thrown off by this and her eyes flicked back and forth somewhat nervously.

"My mother is one of the greatest Gerudo fighters," she bragged.

Orla smirked.

"Greater than the General of Farore? Because that's who Ranlink's father is."

Ranny puffed his chest out importantly.

"Yeah."

"A man," Alanya scoffed. "Men are weak and foolish. Not one man in this kingdom is worthy enough to become a Gerudo."

"Um Alanya," Xera began. "Link is welcome in the Gerudo Fortress..."

At this, Navali and Ranlink looked smug while Orla continued to look apathetic.

"My father is welcome amongst your ranks, and my mother is the greatest of the Seven Sages and heir to the Hylian throne," she said coolly. "And as I am her heir, that makes me a higher rank than you or your mother could ever hope to be. So even if I do look like a 'scrawny rat,' I'd sooner be that a truly pathetic excuse for a living creature like yourself."

Alanya began to quiver with rage and then rounded on Navali.

"Bad blood's got herself a snooty little princess for a friend," she said shakily. "Well I wonder if she can fight!"

Her whip flew out and stung the flesh of Navali's belly with a resounding crack. Navali hissed in pain before launching herself at the other girl in fury. Xera and Cirys went for their whips, but were halted by their limbs going stiff and heavy. Orla stood still with her left hand raised, a white haze expelling itself from her fingertips. Her eyes were dark with anger and her mouth was set in a grim and determined line as she glared at them.

"I think not. Two against one is dishonest. Ran, get those whips. Quickly."

Amazed, Ranlink did as he was told and then turned his attention to Navali, who was struggling to wrench the whip from Alanya's grasp.

"You're not gonna embarrass me in front of my best friend Alanya!" Navali hissed.

Alanya lashed out and tried to claw at Navali's face with her nails. Like lightning, Ran bowled himself at the offensive Gerudo and sent her sprawling to the ground and away from Navali. He pinned her wrists to the ground and glared at her furiously.

"I'm not gonna tell you again, leave Navali alone."

"Stay out of this!" Alanya screeched.

"That's enough," Orla said firmly. "Ran, let's go."

 Reluctantly, Ran released Alanya's wrists and stalked away. 

"Why don't you fight me yourself?" Alanya challenged.

Orla glared at her and then walked away towards her pony.

"This isn't over, Hylian."

"My name is Princess Orla, and you're in no position to threaten me, _bad blood," Orla snapped._

To Ranlink and Navali, the next few moments happened in slow motion. Furious beyond belief, Alanya raised herself from the ground and produced a dagger from inside her boot. With a shriek of rage, she hurled herself at Orla with the dagger gleaming in the sunlight.

"Orla behind you!" Ranny cried.

But Orla was way ahead of the game. She spun around quickly and to the amazement of all present, hurtled a brilliant white orb of magic at the Gerudo. Her face was dark with outrage.

"Leave us alone!"

The magic struck her full on, and for a horrible moment her body remained motionless in the centre of it, her face contorted with pain and shock. The scream that tore from her throat chilled the very air around them, and then she toppled to the ground and lay there, perfectly still.

Orla gasped in fright and shrank back, the hands that covered her mouth trembling uncontrollably. Ranlink stared at her in horror while Navali gingerly crept towards Alanya's still form.

"I... I didn't mean to do that... I don't know how... that happened..." Orla stammered. 

Navali's face grew pale as she placed her ear against Alanya's chest and then she backed away to Ranny. 

"She's not breathing," she whispered.

Ranny's eyes were wide in terror and he couldn't remove his gaze from his trembling cousin. Orla's whole body was shaking in shock and her face was as white as a sheet.

"You killed her!" Cirys screamed.

"I didn't mean to do it... It just happened..."

"Murderer!" 

"No! No I didn't mean to..."

_Murderer_

_MURDERER_

**_MURDERER_**

The screamed statement echoed around the lake and through Orla's mind, and with her terrified tears blinding her, she ran.

_to be continued..._


	6. Fraught Tempers

Disclaimer: Legend of Zelda belongs to Shigeru Miyamoto and Nintendo. anime animal wants to find the rites to it in her stocking tomorrow morning.

A.N: *anime animal cringes as everyone glares at her* I know, it's been ages but I've been stumped. Totally and utterly stumped with this. And I've had a cough since the third week of September and I've been knackered. A-S Levels are satanic. I do promise that I will update more, that will be my New Year's Resolution and also (crosses her fingers!) I think/hope I'm getting a laptop for Chrimbo so if I do… Frequent updates. That's a promise. That being said, I will make it my mission to finish Endeffera by the end of the Christmas holidays.

Chapter 6: Fraught Tempers

Zelda paced back and forth nervously, her heart hammering against her chest like the beat of a drum. Fang sat by the door, staring at it expectantly as if she expected her mistress to open it any moment and occasionally whined in sadness. The door creaked as it opened, causing the wolf's ears to prick and the princess to turn quickly and search the open doorway for a small, blonde haired figure. The figure was blonde, but he was not the one she had been hoping to see.

"There's no sign of her?" she asked, already knowing the answer.

Olaran shook his head.

"I couldn't find her Zelda, but Link's still looking."

Zelda's face grew pale as she slumped down on the window seat.

"He won't come back until he finds her," she said quietly. "But what if he doesn't? Oh Gods, I can't believe that this is happening!"

Olaran sat beside his daughter in law and put his arm around her.

"Zelda, she'll be alright. Nothing bad will happen to her, she's already proven that she can defend herself."

Zelda recognised the slightly icy edge to her godfather's voice and closed her eyes.

"I should never have started training her in magic, it's all my fault."

"It is no-one's fault. We've heard both sides of the story and she acted out of self-defence. You should be thankful that her magic wasn't strong enough to kill the girl."

Zelda nodded. An icy hand had gripped at her heart from the moment she had heard of Orla's attack on Alanya, and the feeling had failed to subside even now that she had the knowledge that the girl had made a complete recovery. Ran hadn't spoken all afternoon, and it had been Navali who had informed the adults of the events of the day. 

Princess Ruto had been watching the proceedings from the water and had been the one to summon Nabooru, Link and Zelda to the scene. Nabooru had revived Alanya from her state of unconsciousness with a fairy, having disproved Cirys' accusations upon her arrival. By this stage, both parties were arguing their story and had to be silenced by Zelda who had been desperately trying to discover the whereabouts of her daughter.

But Orla was nowhere to be found, even when her mother had tried to contact her psychically. The young princess' mind was either too tormented to be reached or she was deliberately trying not to be found. Zelda prayed that it was the former. Link had set off immediately, telling Zelda to return to the castle and send Olaran and Aidyn in search as well. For hours she had sat in her room, waiting for them to return. Two thirds of the search party had now returned, and there was still no sign of her.

******

"Where could she be Epona?"

The evening wind had picked up and was whipping bitterly against Link's cheeks. He pulled the collar of his tunic up against his face and shivered involuntarily before calling out again.

"Orla! Orla, where are you?!"

Horrible images began to materialise in his mind where Orla was in terrible danger, unarmed and helpless. But then he remembered that she was by no means helpless, Zelda had seen to that. The hurt he was feeling was indescribable, the fact that she hadn't told him that she was training their child in magic arts was one that made him feel betrayed and ignored. She'd gone behind his back. As much as he wanted to talk to his wife about her secret lessons with Orla, that wouldn't bring their daughter back.

_What's the matter, lost your daughter?_

The familiar and unwelcome voice made its presence known in its dry and sinister voice. Link's eyes narrowed. This was the last thing he needed.

"Get out of my head."

_Aw, the poor pathetic hero's been betrayed by his wife, his daughter's nearly killed someone and now he's on a wild goose chase to find the little-..._

"Don't you _dare say anything about my family, don't you dare," Link snarled. "I'll kill you myself if you say one more thing about any of them."_

_Amusing. How do you kill what you don't see?_

"Leave me alone!"

Epona snorted nervously and tossed her head in alarm. Link looked around and apologetically patted his mare's neck.

"I'm sorry girl, I didn't mean to scare you like that. I think I'm going crazy."

He sighed and slumped in the saddle as he called out against the wind.

"Orla!"

There was nothing but the whispering of the wind across the field. Link looked up to the sky and saw the storm clouds gathering overhead, clouding the horizon like Orla's absence was clouding his mood. How could she have run away like this? He was certain that she trusted him and Zelda enough to come to them if she had any kind of problem, so why did she run away?

_She was scared Link._

Link jumped as Zelda's voice filled his mind and then sighed in relief.

"Zel, thank the gods it's you. I thought..."

 He shook his head sadly.

"It doesn't matter. Did Dad and Aidyn..."

_No._

Her voice was quiet for a moment.__

_I take it that means you haven't either._

"I'm sorry. I've looked everywhere, I can't find her."

He felt Zelda's presence leave for a moment and hung his head. 

_Please come home._

"No. Not until I've found her."

_I want you with me, I can't do this alone._

"You're not alone, I promise you. I'm with you..."

_It's not enough, I need you here. Link, I'm so scared! My baby's out there all alone and I'm alone too. Please Link..._

Her pleas echoed in his mind like needy whispers.

"Alright, I'm coming home."

Besides, there were some questions he needed to ask her in person.

******

"I'm cold and I'm hungry and I want to go home."

Orla trembled from the bitter cold that whipped against her small body as she hugged herself underneath a rocky outcrop. 

_You can't go home. You're a murderer._

Tears trickled down Orla's cheeks as the painful memory struck her. Ranlink's look of horror, Navali's expression of disbelief and fright. The look on Alanya's face as she fell against the ground, her eyes unblinking and unseeing. Orla could see her face reflected in those eyes. It had been furious and hard, her own eyes dark and raging with evil intent.

"I'm a killer. I killed her. Alanya's dead. I killed her."

She shivered, not just because of the cold.

What where her parents going to say? 

Her parents would despise her. They'd hate her. Their daughter was a murderer. She was everything her father fought to destroy, everything her mother detested.

Rain had started to fall like arrows of ice, soaking the child's tunic in a matter of moments. She shivered involuntarily and felt her teeth begin to chatter from the cold, her small hands rubbing her arms to keep warm.  

_I wish Daddy was here._

But he wasn't. He was at home, probably debating with her mother over the best way for her execution to be performed. That's what happened to murderers, they were executed.

Or exiled.

That was probably what was going to happen to her, what with her being a princess and everything. The exile would be worse, living forever with the guilt and the knowledge that she had killed someone and also with the memory of a loving, supporting family that probably couldn't bear to look at her. She couldn't even bear to be her, so what anyone else would think when they looked upon her murderous form was beyond her.

Her shivering became more visible as the shower progressed. She backed up closer to the rock, hugging her knees against her chest and resting her chin on them.

******

A small fork of lightning cut through the late evening sky, causing Zelda to close her eyes.

"Oh gods, what a mess. And she's out there all alone, my baby..."

Link removed his waxed cloak from a chest and fastened it around his neck before deliving through the container to retrieve bottles containing potions and fairies.

"I will bring her home Zelda."

Zelda turned to face him, her eyes full of tears.

"I don't know why she did it, I don't understand _how she could have turned on someone like that!"_

"She did it in self defence. What I don't know is why _you taught her the skills to turn on someone like that," Link muttered dryly._

"What did you say?" Zelda asked sharply.

"Cut the crap, you know what I'm talking about. Magic." 

She froze and stared at him. His eyes were afire with anger, anger which was directed at her.

"She needed to know-"

"Needed to know! Gods Zelda, she didn't _need to know how to use it! She didn't need to be given the excuse to use her powers, she's dangerous enough as it is!"_

"_What?"_

"Orla is dangerous," Link snapped. "We have known that since before the day that she was born. OK so it was hard to believe when she was a tiny baby but she's not a baby any more Zelda. She is dangerous." 

"How can you say that? She's our daughter!"

"Yes, she's our daughter, but she's Endeffera too. Sometimes I think that you forget that."

"How can I forget that?" Zelda snapped. "Every second of every day I try to forget, but I can't. I have suffered enough with this prophecy, I am sick of it! How can I possibly be her mother when I am always wary of what she can do? How can I take care of Amalia properly when I'm always watching out for Orla? How can I?"

Link looked at her, her eyes ablaze with hurt and shining with unshed tears.

"But then again, I have you. You're there when it gets too much, you're always telling me that things will be OK, that we'll get through it. And now you're turning against me and it's too much for me to bear!"

"Gods Zel, I'm not _turning against you!" Link cried. "And if this is too much for you to bear then what the hell is this doing to me?"_

Zelda looked at him in surprise, noting how his hands were shaking with suppressed anger. Instantly she felt guilty.

"I'm sorry..."

"Sorry? Sorry for what? The fact that you're wallowing in self pity about this or because you didn't even tell me you were teaching her how to use magic? Farore Zelda, I'm your husband! We _don't keep secrets, I thought we promised each other that! How could you do something that important without even telling me? She's my daughter too."_

"I never meant for you to find out like this."

"No, and my mother was never meant to find out about yours."

Zelda's eyes darkened.

"What the hell has she got to do with it? How _dare you bring her into this!"_

Link knew that he had just shot a low blow but was too angry to care. She'd hurt him too much to care. 

"Oh I don't know, maybe it's because you seem to be so good at lying to people."

"I _never lied to you!"_

"But you still didn't tell me. You never told me. Would you have told me is this hadn't happened?"

"Of course I would, I was going to, it's just that-"

"Just what? That you wanted to do this behind my back? Well thanks a lot Zelda, thanks heaps."

With that, he stormed out of the door, slamming it behind him. Zelda began to tremble and then burst into tears.

******

Iza was cold. Her lady had sent her out to the town, unaware that heavy downpour was scheduled. Now it was dark, and having spent an hour and a half in town she had found no trace of the article that her ladyship had requested. She was cold, miserable and very tired.

The donkey behind her brayed stubbornly as the rain poured down. It balked behind her and refused to go any further.

"Oh for the sake of the Gods Amadeus, _will you walk!"_

The donkey glared at her maliciously and then tossed its head so violently that it wrenched the lead rope from Iza's hands. Surprised by this movement, Iza lost her balance and fell on her backside in the mud. The creature stared down its long nose at her and brayed like laughter. Iza glared back and slung a handful of mud at it.

"Wretched creature! Stupid, stupid animal..."

Her voice trailed off as she heard what sounded like a sniffle. A very quiet sound but a sniffle none the less. Amadeus froze, as did Iza who had drawn herself out from the mud. The sniffle was joined by a whimper and a soft moan. 

"Hello? Is there anybody there?"

The sniffle was replaced by a gasp. Iza followed her ears to a rocky outface and found, much to her surprise, a small child huddled up under the rocks. She regarded Iza with wide, scared eyes and shrank back as far as she could.

"Stay back!"

Iza crouched low.

"It's OK, I'm not going to hurt you or anything. Come on, don't worry, I'm not armed."

The girl stared back.

"But I'll hurt you, I will!"

Iza laughed softly. Not patronizingly, but gently and encouragingly. It was a friendly sound.

"Oh come on, there's no need to be like that! It's freezing out here, you should be at home with your family. Where are you from?"

The girl froze.

"I can't go back. Ever."

Iza smiled sadly and extended her hand.

"Well why don't you come back with me? I don't have my own home, but my mistress is very kind. She'll let you stay the night."

The little girl looked at her warily and then slowly took her hand. Iza's chocolate coloured eyes widened.

"Dear Gods, your hands are like ice! How long have you been out here for?"

The little girl shook her head.

"I don't know."

Iza led her to the donkey and took out a blanket from one of the baskets which she wrapped around the little girl's shoulders.

"There, that should help warm you up a little. Now, you hop onto Amadeus here and we'll get you back to her ladyship and see if there's a hot bath going. What's your name sweetheart?"

The little girl frowned for a moment and then hung her head as she spoke.

"Ariala," Orla lied quietly.

"That's a pretty name. My name's Iza."

 Orla smiled, liking this warm hearted woman already.

"OK Ariala, let's go and introduce you to Lady Cordelia."

*****

Zelda was sobbing into her pillows when her father softly tapped on the door.

"Zelda, Amalia's getting uppity, she wants you to-"

He was cut short as he caught sight of her puffy eyes and tear stained cheeks.

"Oh my darling..."

He gathered his daughter in his arms and held her close, brushing her hair softly as she sobbed into his tunic.

"It's alright sweetheart, they're going to find her-"

"Oh papa, this is all my fault!"

"Shh, no it's not your fault, it isn't your fault at all. It was just bullying that got out of hand-"

"But I taught her how to use magic! I gave her the means to kill someone-"

"Zelda, Orla did not kill anyone."

He held her shoulders and looked straight into her eyes.

"The girl is gifted, she has amazing magical skills. From what I have heard, she acted honourably in defence of her friends and that is the main thing. What she did was out of protection, it wasn't malicious and it wasn't prepared. It was self defence."

He brushed a stray strand of hair away from his daughter's face.

"You are not to blame for the events of today, and you will only suffer needlessly if you blame yourself. Link, Olaran and Aidyn are doing all they can to find her."

Zelda's eyes began to tear up again.

"Link hates me," she sobbed. "I didn't tell him, I didn't tell him about Orla's training. I was going to tell him papa, I was going to tonight. There were two things I needed to tell him and now..."

She shuddered heavily as she sighed.

"Now I don't know when I'll see him again, because I don't know that he'll come home when he finds our baby!"

She burst into tears again, and her father tried to sooth her again.

"Nonsense, he'll be back as soon as he finds her, mark my words. That man adores you Zelda, you know that. He would move heaven and earth for you, and he would never, _never abandon you or the girls. Never."_

Zelda murmured softly against her father's shoulder.

"I want them home, I want my little girl and I want my husband. I want them home."

To be continued...

Merry Christmas!


	7. Flight of the atillian

Disclaimer: anime animal does not pretend to own Zelda. She believes that if she sells sufficient amounts of her body to medical research she will be able to find the money in order to buy it…

A.N: Yes! I've found a floppy disk that works! Oh God, I can't believe it! Yes! More updates! I am so sorry this has been delayed, but the stupid, stupid school computers wouldn't read my disks and my computer isn't connected to the internet. That, is now a thing of the past because this wonderful disk is working! YES! I only hope the chapter's worth the wait…

Chapter 7: Flight of the _atillian_

Iza led Orla into the imposing grey stone building and shot the girl a reassuring smile.

"I know, it's a creepy looking place but it's not so bad inside. Come on, I'll introduce you to Lady Cordelia and then let's see if we can draw you a bath."

Orla nodded appreciatively and followed her companion into the large house. Iza took her through a long corridor to a room which glowed orange from the light of a roaring fire. In a chair before the fireplace there sat a woman, her head bowed over her lap as she concentrated on something, a tapestry hoop Orla reckoned. The woman was middle aged, maybe in her late forties, with a sheet of silver streaked blonde hair. She looked up from her work and fixed her eyes on Iza before switching her attention to the child beside her. Beside Iza, Orla shrank back involuntarily.

"Who have you got there Iza?"

The woman put her tapestry hoop down on the arm of the chair and stood gracefully, her grey eyes taking in everything she was presented with and regarding them with keen interest. 

"Lady Cordelia, I was out in the storm and I found this child sheltering under a rock face and I-"

"You were wondering whether or not it would be possible for her to stay here tonight."

"I, er-"

Cordelia advanced towards them, never once taking her eyes off Orla.

"What is your name, child?"

Orla felt her stomach tie itself in knots and struggled to find her tongue."

"Ariala ma'am."

Cordelia froze momentarily, particularly when she saw the girl's eyes, that same tempestuous shade of midnight blue. She swallowed.

"Iza, won't you run our guest a bath?"

Iza curtsied.

"Yes my lady. Come along Ariala."

"Ariala will stay with me until her bath is ready," Cordelia responded coolly. "You may leave us."

"Yes madam."

Iza backed out of the room, closing the door behind her. Orla remained glued to the spot, not knowing how to handle the situation she was presented with.

"Ariala is it?" Cordelia asked. "So which one is your father, Aidyn or Ranlink?"

Orla jumped.

"I'm sorry?"

"Which one of the Ferras brothers is your father? And don't feign ignorance with me Ariala, you have your grandmother's eyes. I know that you are of Olaran's line."

Orla hung her head and chewed her bottom lip.

"I'm not telling."

Cordelia knelt before the child and lifted the girl's chin so that their eyes met. The older woman's eyes widened in realisation.

"You have the look of your father about you, but you have traits of your mother about you too. And you have withheld the truth with regards to your name. Isn't that right Orla?"

Orla jumped.

"How did you know that?"

Cordelia's heart sank as her gamble paid off. She stood, not taking her eyes off her granddaughter.

"That is none of your concern Princess. What I wish to know is why the King of Hyrule's grandchild is wandering around on her own in the middle of a storm?"

Orla's eyes flashed defiantly.

"That is none of your concern," she parroted.

Cordelia's mouth twitched as she struggled to contain her smile.

"We must all have our own secrets, it is our right," she said softly. "If you wish to tell me what has caused you to be out here then you will when you choose to. For now, I can only offer you my hospitality and extend my hand to you in friendship, Your Highness."

Orla relented and shook the elder woman's slender hand in her own grubby one.

"You won't tell anyone that I'm here, will you?"

Cordelia smiled and shook her head.

"As I said, we must all have our own secrets. Your identity and location shall be an addition to the many that I keep."

Orla frowned for a moment and then sneezed.

"May the gods bless you."

The little princess smiled and looked around at her surroundings, taking in the many tapestries on the walls and the roaring fire.

"I believe that your bath must soon be ready. Come now, I will show you to your room and see if I can find you something different to wear. One would become suspicious to see a child wearing a royal tunic in this household."

Orla looked down at her mud splattered purple tunic, printed in the same pattern as a similar garment worn by a ten year old Zelda on the day she had met the boy who would be her husband. Zelda's daughter felt tears threaten to overcome her as she focused on the royal insignia, knowing that she would never see it again, let alone wear it.

Cordelia watched her silent grandchild with mute reverence, taking in every aspect of the girl's appearance. Everything about her screamed Ariala, and for that reason alone the former Queen's jealous nature began to plead for the child to be expelled from the house, but one small voice spoke softly to Cordelia's heart, a voice she had ignored since the day she had turned her back on her own daughter who had wailed bitterly in the cradle as her mother had fled from the castle. 

_This child is the daughter of your daughter. Don't turn your back on her too._

Orla felt a soft hand on her shoulder and looked up into the compassionate grey eyes of her unknown relative.

"It will be alright Orla, as long as you remain here I will see to it that you never need to worry."

****** 

Deep within the Temple of Light, the wizened head of Rauru the Sage of Light stared up at a far off window that was coloured with the sun's early rays that managed to break through the thick grey clouds.

"What a miserable dawn."

"I couldn't agree with you more," his companion answered, pushing her long purple cloak away from her head. 

"Have they found any sign of her?"

Impa shook her head.

"Not a hint. Zelda didn't sleep all night, and there is still no word from Link."

"Has the child contacted either of them?"

"Zelda tried to, all through the night she tried. Orla doesn't want to be found."

"And Link? Has the Princess heard anything from him?"

Impa shook her head.

"No, they fought before he left and he hasn't been in contact. Zelda's beside herself."

Rauru regarded the Sheikah critically for a moment.

"Orla's disappearance is not all that is troubling you, is it Impa?"

"I can feel the hold of darkness growing," she said quietly. "The shadows grow more sinister, as though they cloak some terrible event with their mists. I have been waiting for Zelda to come to me with her fears, but for reasons known only unto her she has been dedicated to training Orla with magic, it has become her main concern."

"I know, and one can only assume that the gods have a reason for her to be occupied in such a manner. The question is, what exactly is that purpose?"

Impa shook her head.

"That is a question that only the gods themselves can find an answer for."

******

Orla looked around her, finding no-one except herself sitting in the unfamiliar glade. She was seated on a moss covered log, dressed in the night-dress that Lady Cordelia had provided for her earlier. There was a soft breeze blowing like a warm kiss upon her skin and the air smelt of summer, sweet like wild flowers.

_We should not be here._

The princess snorted indignantly.

"No, I should be asleep in bed."

_But it is not your bed._

"You think that I don't already realise that?" Orla bit back. "I- we, killed someone today."

The breeze blew softly again.

_Did we?_

Orla opened her mouth to reply, but then frowned.

"Alanya's alive?"

_That is not something we will know for sure until you return home._

"Yeah, but I'll still be in trouble!" Orla retorted.

_We should not stay here, we are needed at home._

"Why?"

_Because that is our place. We are needed there, you and I. Did you even stop to think of what your absence is doing to your family?_

Orla hung her head before shaking it. A hand touched her shoulder softly and as Orla looked up, her eyes opened wide and her mouth fell open.

"Is that... you?"

"Yes."__

The strange girl spoke softly, her eyes shining keenly and sympathetically in the direction of the young Hylian.

"We need to return home Orla, we must, otherwise all that is important to us will be destroyed."

"I can't go back!" Orla cried. "Even if I'm not a murderer I still can't go home! I used my powers for bad and that is the worst thing I could do! I'm a monster!"

"We are not a monster. We are a power that cannot afford to go astray, we must remain under the guidance of the Triforce otherwise we will destroy ourselves. Please Orla, you must return!"

For the first time since Orla had ever held a conversation with the unknown entity that shared her existence, she had never heard her voice raise itself to higher than a soft whisper. As she turned to look into the eyes of her companion, Orla could see sparkling tears dazzling in her bright eyes.

"Do not let the same thing happen to you that happened to me, I beg of you. You deserve more of a life than I ever had, you should not have the flame of your being snuffed out before it has even had the chance to burn at its brightest."

"What are you talking about?" Orla whispered. "Am I... Are we going to die?"

Her companion could not bring herself to look into Orla's eyes.

"I do not know. All I know is that I let our power control me, it destroyed me, and I wish that my mother had not kept that power alive so that it has the chance to do the same thing to you."

******

Darkness. All around there was darkness.

How many years had he been there? How did he know? There was no time, there was no night or day. But all that he knew existed was hatred.

And there was no-one he hated more than those who had put him there.

Some day, some great day when he could escape this hell that he had been induced to, he'd be free. Free to exact his revenge on those who had imprisoned him.

The pale, thin lips of the _atillian* quirked upwards in a cruel, thin smile. Such amusement could be gathered from reading the thoughts of those imprisoned within this dark pit that its master had been subjected to that the creature took great delight in frequently probing the minds of those captive. This subject had always been one of great interest to all of the beings of darkness, the way his mind continued to brood and scheme and rage with thoughts of revenge, destruction and disdain. That and the way this one held such tremendous power that it had ensnared the interest of the Master._

Mortis.

The God of Death and Destruction sat alone in his chamber within the Evil Realm. Although a god, he was reduced to being imprisoned by his relatives and superiors to the Hell that had been created for the soulless demons of the world, the final home of all the creatures created with evil as the only thing on their mind. He should be with them in the Sacred Realm, observing the goings on in the world from his seat of power beside his brothers and sisters the way he should have done. The way he was destined to have done. Once, when the world was young, he had sat peacefully with them, living a merry and prosperous life and dutifully tending to the Dead, releasing them from their endeavours on the plain of mortals and allowing them the eternal rest they so rightly deserved as well as punishing those of evil heart to an eternity within the Evil Realm where their dark souls became uneasy, bitter and empty to the extent they turned to _atillian_, the dark spirits that one mortal had once summoned to do his bidding in the form of creatures created by his own power, power that had been amplified thanks to the gift he had plundered from the Sacred Realm.

It was that reason alone that kept Ganondorf Dragmire in his body. 

Mortis' eyes narrowed as he thought of the man, the being who was causing such a disturbance within his world. Already he knew that the allegiance of his _atillian_ servants was being turned to the Gerudo, particularly in those that he had seized to create his own servants during the time that should have been. Mortis was faced with a dilemma.

His power, although great, had been greatly diminished during his battle with his niece so many millennia ago, not only that, all of his siblings held that power in check, keeping it from ever being at a force strong enough to threaten the Sacred Realm again.

But not one had been looking at Ganondorf.

Mortis could use his power, he could cipher enough of it into his own body so as not to be noticed by Ganondorf or the other gods but it was significantly potent enough to give his own vigour a much needed boost. As the stars continued to move in their alignment towards nox nocte, he grew confident that he would soon be where he belonged. He would be the one to rule everything, and not the council of Twelve.

However, there was one thing that troubled him. 

Endeffera's power was still out there, like a beacon burning through the darkness he would create. For centuries he had thought it impossible that any suggestion of her being had survived, but it had been earlier that day that he had sensed it. It had only been a flicker, insignificant like the bite of an insect, but he knew too well that bites could become infected and become a real problem. That was the only thing that could possibly stop him. It was also the one thing that could aid him in the ultimate realisation of his aim. Yet he knew his niece, he knew of her stubborn nature when it came to doing 'the right thing.' She'd destroy herself all over again in order to prevent him from succeeding.

Which was why he could not afford for her power to come into the equation.

Clicking his long, white fingers, he summoned one of the many _atillian_ to him.

"I have an errand for you. Seek out Nayru's child Endeffera and either persuade her to join me..."

He paused for a moment, swirling a deep red liquid about in the bottom of a crystal goblet before supping it elegantly.

"Or destroy her."

******

"I am not going to be controlled by it," Orla snapped stubbornly. "I won't lose to it."

"Have you ever felt the life drain from you like flour through a sieve?"

"What?"

"To feel your soul flowing out of you while you struggled with what little life you had left to keep that soul within you. Do you know how it feels to watch yourself die in your mother's arms?"

There was anger in her voice, anger that Orla found alarming and at the same time she felt bitterly saddened by it also.

"The power will always control us Orla, no matter how hard we try it will take us, and if the same thing happens this time around, it will happen again to another child like you, only then there will be three souls in one vessel, not two."

Orla shuddered and felt her hands wring the fabric of her night-gown's skirt.

"How can I stop this?"

"Go home Orla."

Orla nodded.

"Alright, I'll go in the morning. Right now, can't I dream in peace?"

******

Epona stumbled and swiftly righted herself, bringing Link back down to earth with a thud. His thoughts had been up in the air, mostly those thoughts were telling him that he was a heartless bastard who did not deserve to be married to such a wonderful woman, particularly considering the way he had snapped at her for doing something for that was for the benefit of their daughter. He loosened the mare's reins and let her have her head, allowing her to slow down on her own accord and return to the placid pace of a walk. Her breathing was heavy, unsurprising after the time and distance for which she had been galloping.

"I'm sorry girl, seems I'm screwing up everything for everyone I care about."

_If it were me, I would have found her by now._

Link's eyes narrowed.

"I've told you this before: Get out of my head."

The intruding voice laughed mockingly in his mind.

_You know, I don't think I'll ever tire of winding you up, you're as volatile as Death Mountain on a bad day._

"OK, so what would you do in my position? What if your daughter was lost somewhere and you didn't have a clue what to do and where to find her? Come to think of it, if you're so damned sure of yourself why the Hell haven't you shown yourself and taken me on face to face because quite frankly, I am more than a little bit pissed off and I would be glad to take this sword and ram it between your ribs."

Link was seething.

_Quite frankly, I find your anger rather amusing._

"I have beaten you before and I won't hesitate to do it again. For the last time, get out of my head!" 

The laughter echoing in his head taunted him until he cried out savagely so much that his throat hurt. Epona snorted loudly, the sound echoing around the valley along with the dying echoes of Link's cry.

_Now, however, is not the time for us to be arguing, you'll be needing my help very soon now._

"So you say."

_It's true. As much as it galls me to say it, you and I have to join forces if you want to save your daughter's life._

"What do you mean?"

Link unknowingly pulled Epona to a halt and sat stock still in the saddle.

"Is she in danger?"

_You know full well that she always has been since the moment she was created._

"I mean at the moment, is she being threatened?"

_I know that if Mortis has his way then yes, but there's no proof. But you need to find the brat as soon as you can._

"Why are you helping me?"

There was a brief silence as the voice contemplated Link's question for a moment.

_Unfortunately as much as you need me, I also need you. _

"I have all I need, and I very much doubt that you need me," Link mocked scornfully.__

_Believe what you want to._

"I do."

His thoughts dwelled on what exactly it was that the strange voice in his head was trying to say as its presence left him, and as Epona quickened her pace to a trot a sudden image filled his mind. A strange shadowy creature with blood red eyes screeched and wheeled above a large grey house, its eyes filled with hatred and malicious intent. It screeched again, and for one moment he could have sworn he heard a name, a name he knew all too well and at the moment hated with all his being.

_Endeffera!_

"Shit! What the hell is that?" he gasped. "Gods, where's Zelda when you..."

He tailed off into a guilty silence. Zelda would have known what that creature was. Not for the first time that evening he began to regret his argument with her. Little things sprang to mind following his departure, such as the way that her eyes had shone with tears that she'd tried to hide from him. He hated the fact that he'd gone ahead and hurt her when she was hurting just as much as he was, maybe even more. 

"I'm such an idiot..."

Epona snorted with a sound that sounded like agreement.

"Thanks Epona, I really needed that," Link replied dryly. 

He spurred the mare onwards into the rising dawn, the horrible image of the creature doing nothing to ease his concern and doing everything to heighten it.

_I only hope that I get to Orla before that thing does..._

to be continued...

*_atillian_ is pronounced at-ee-I-an. Why? 'Cause I'm God in this fic! Ha ha ha! And I thought it'd be fun...


	8. Cold

Disclaimer: I want to say that I own it, but because I value the money that I have in my bank account and don't want it sued off me, I am not going to say that I own Zelda. Cause that would be lying. And my Mummy told me that nice girls don't lie.

A.N: I finally know how I'm going to finish this story. However, I am expecting loads of reviews following this chapter because I surprised even myself with the way I ended this installation. *gulp*

Chapter 8: Cold

Cordelia sat in a chair beside her granddaughter's bed, watching the sleeping child with a tender vigilance. She reached out with a slender hand to reposition the blankets and caressed the girl's cheek softly, just softly enough so as not to be noticed. Orla sighed softly in her sleep and wriggled a little under the blankets, lying on her side and hugging the pillow against her body. 

_Why did you give up on all of this?_

The question was one that the former queen of Hyrule was unable to find an answer to. As she looked at the little girl, lying there wearing one of her nieces' old nightdresses, she couldn't help but wonder whether her mother had looked the same in her sleep. Cordelia smiled subconsciously at the memory of her daughter as the new baby she had tenderly tucked into bed under soft down blankets encased in silk, a tiny and perfect embodiment of the love she had felt for Harkinian. She should have loved that baby so much that she would sooner have died than be parted with her, sooner thrown away her own life before she ever intentionally hurt her. The memory of the infant Princess of Hyrule was replaced by that of the adult, the beautiful teenager she had angrily crossed paths with eight years before. The girl, no the woman, who had faced her with eyes so full of anger and hurt who had disowned her, turned her from her home on her wedding day. Cordelia knew in her heart of hearts that she should never have gone to the wedding, she should never have stood cloaked at the back of the Temple and watched as her husband walked their daughter up the aisle to the side of Olaran's son, who stole glances at her when he should have been concentrating on ancient scriptures being read by the priest, never have watched as her daughter smiled at him whenever their eyes met, never eavesdropped on the whispered 'I love yous' exchanged by the couple as they walked from the temple, arm in arm.

Yet now she sat beside the sleeping form of their child, their beloved first born, the child she had tried to stop the creation of. She was so much like Ariala that it galled her to think that this girl was one of her own descendants, but she was much more like her father, the baby Cordelia had doted upon whenever he visited, her favourite of Olaran's sons. At the same time, his child spoke like her mother, had the same deeply intelligent look in her midnight eyes, had the same serene calm to her aura that set them aside from others. As they had dined before the fire, Orla wrapped in one of Cordelia's own shawls, the pair had talked between each other, Orla politely answering her grandmother's questions and giving all the information she wanted to give and at the same time gaining what information she wanted. Cordelia noticed that the child never once asked the obvious question that many first time guests at her house asked their host.

_So, do you have any family?_

Cordelia sighed and raised herself from the seat. She cast an affectionate glance at the girl and then left the room quietly, closing the door softly behind her as she left. Her resolution was set, and in the morning she would put her proposal to her grandchild, the proposal that she should take up residence with her and never have to worry about facing up to whatever it was that troubling her. They would be runaways together.

******

The _atillian_ whirled through the sky, revelling in its new found freedom with a lusty cry as it soared higher and higher into the darkness of the night. It was invisible, undetectable, save for the odd moment when one suddenly felt the grip of something cold on their person. Such was the strength of the _atillian, the ability to be unseen but not to go unnoticed._

Since the creation of the Evil Realm millennia ago, _atillian had begun to thrive, very rarely venturing to the surface by corrupting the form of an innocent being, thus giving them a half life. When this existence was ended, be it by sword or of natural cause, the host would disintegrate and the __atillian's occupation ended as it floated away into oblivion in the form of a whisp of vapour, never to exist again. Sometimes the __atillian's grip on the host's body would be so strong that the corpse would not disintegrate for some time, but ultimately that was the way the creature went. Few knew of the existence of these restless dark souls, and those that did regretted that knowledge._

For those with ill intentions, the _atillian served as the perfect way for their orders to be undertaken as they were unwaveringly obedient to those with power. It was for that reason that Ganondorf manipulated the _atillian's_ ability to possess creatures, shaping them into beasts for his purpose. Dinalfos, Lizalfos, Stalfos, all created by the Gerudo king's desire for some form of champion that might have been able to put a stop to the interference of a child possessing nothing but a child's blade and an unwaveringly courageous heart. They had tried..._

And failed.

This night however, the _atillian_ had no need to possess anything. It's task was simple: seek out Endeffera and either convince her to join the Master or destroy her if she refused. Even now the spirit could sense her power, it could feel her presence though she was many miles away. It would be easy to destroy such a physically weak thing, a thing so measly that it was hard to believe it was the key to the Evil Realm's rebirth. 

With a feeling of elation, the _atillian wheeled in the sky one last time before spiralling downwards towards its goal._

******

Link's anxiety grew with every stride Epona took. His unease had been unshakable since the cry of the strange shadow creature, and every second that Orla's whereabouts were unknown the grip of panic grew tighter and tighter.

Never on any of his adventures had he encountered such a creature. Even the image of it had chilled the blood in his veins, so he dreaded to think of what an encounter with the real creature might bring. His mind flew to images of the creature attacking Orla, pouncing on his daughter and tearing her limb from limb or some other horrific attack on her. He could practically hear in his mind her screaming for him to save her, the way he was supposed to. That was what he did after all, save people, and he would be damned if that task was denied of him this time. 

If only he knew where she was!

Thankfully, the persistent voice in his head had stopped talking to him. It was getting beyond a joke, and had Link not believed in the existence of strange mind possessing entities then he would have been seriously questioning his sanity. Even so, he began to wish that _something would speak to him, he felt an overwhelming desire for companionship at that moment, the need to hear someone telling him that he was on the right track or that Orla would be alright, it was only a matter of time until they were reunited. He wanted Zelda._

As Epona rose over the next ridge, Link's keen eyesight caught sight of a light in the distance. His gloomy thoughts left him and were replaced with optimism. A light meant a house, a house meant people and people meant the potential of someone who'd seen Orla.

"Come on Epona, just give me one more gallop and then I promise you can rest."

Epona's ears flicked in response and the mare's muscles surged forward into the required run. As the pair drew closer, Link felt a knot in his stomach tighten as he recognised the house to be the same that he'd seen in his vision.

And that shadowy being was there too.

******

Orla woke abruptly, her eyes flying wide as something inside her turned cold inexplicably. She lay still, breathing evenly and trying to use a skill that her mother had taught her. Using her mind, she sought out the presence of those in the room with her and found, as she had expected, that she was the only one there. That fact still failed to sway her uneasiness.

_Something is not right._

Swiftly, she slipped from the bed and crept to the window, looking out across the moonscape. The feeling of coldness stayed with her, only getting stronger as she pushed open the shutters and stared out into the night. Everything was still, as if frozen in a portrait. The storm had long since passed and for that brief moment in time she felt as though she alone were the only person in the entire world.

But she wasn't. She could feel that, the presence of something approaching her, getting closer with every breath. It was something dark, something that meant her harm and something that she knew would soon be upon her whether she liked it or not.

And she was never alone. Not as long as the other part of her spirit was there.

Orla could feel her heart beating erratically in her chest, pounding against her ribcage like a hammer. She swallowed hard.

"Who's there?"

There was no answer, only a dry wind whispering through the bare branches of a nearby tree. Orla shivered and wrapped her arms around herself, telling herself that she was being stupid and that she shouldn't be such a chicken. She was seven years old, not some wimpy baby.

The door behind her creaked and caused the princess to spin around with a startled gasp. Cordelia stood in the doorway with a candle in her hand, dressed in a nightdress with her blonde hair braided down her back. Her brow was furrowed with lines of concern that made Orla think twice about her stupidity regarding her irrational fear.

"You sensed it too then?" Cordelia asked. 

Orla nodded.

"Something's out there."

Her grandmother crossed to the child and took her hand, making no effort to hide the fear in her expression.

"Orla, you are not safe on your own. Come with me, we'll make one of the rooms light enough to keep whatever it is at bay."

"I'm not scared of the dark," Orla muttered indignantly.

"I am aware of that child, but I have long been taught that the only comfort in times of darkness is the light."

At that moment, a terrible shriek split the night air that caused the blood to run cold through both females' veins. Automatically, Cordelia pushed the child behind her and began to chant a prayer in ancient Hylian tongue, a prayer which Orla had heard once before though she couldn't remember where from.

"If you've got a light room then I wouldn't mind going there," Orla confessed.

Cordelia nodded grimly and led her granddaughter from the room, her hand tightly encasing Orla's.

"I'll not let anything harm you Orla, even if it means my life," Cordelia said with determination in her voice.

The shriek echoed again, only this time louder. The elder Hylian broke into a run, encouraging the younger to do the same. 

"Make haste child!"

Orla quickened her pace, mistiming a step and tripping on the excess fabric of her nightgown. She stumbled and fell, knocking against a table and sending a bowl of flowers crashing to the ground with deafening shatter of porcelain. At that moment, a cold gust of wind gushed through the hall, blowing the heavy velvet curtains towards the door at the end of the corridor. For a moment Cordelia surveyed the scene with dismay before the same gust of wind extinguished her candle. For a moment the pair of them were blinded by the darkness until the growing feeling of cold engulfed them both to the extent of it being unbearable. Orla looked around her in a panic before her horrified gasp echoed around the silent hall.

Hovering before them was a shadowy form, very faint but undeniably present. It was a murky purple-grey colour, smoky in substance and translucent all over with the exception of leathery black double wings sprouting from what must have been its back. Its eyes were like slivers of red-hot fire, burning red at the edges and fading to white in the centre. It had no nose, no ears, only these intense eyes and a pair of lips so thin and pale that they almost faded into the nothingness of its face. These lips moved now, speaking in a voice that was a dry as the wind that had rushed through the tree.

"Endeffera."

Cordelia shrank back against the wall, gripping onto the curtain beside her with a white knuckled grasp. Orla remained on the floor, rooted to the spot and staring in disbelief at the creature before her.

"Orla, get away from it!" 

Orla heard Cordelia's voice, but made no action upon her command. The creature spoke again, more pointedly and with impatience.

"Endeffera."

_It means us Orla. Whatever it offers us, decline. It is an agent of the one we must protect this world from._

The Hylian had no intention of accepting anything this horrific being offered her. She fixed her eyes on its face and spoke, swallowing her fear and adopting her royal tone of voice.

"What is your desire?"

The thing looked pleased and came closer to her. She felt colder instantly.

"The Master wishes Endeffera to join him."

_Never._

"And if I decline his offer?" Orla asked, feeling her courage return to her.

"Then the servantdestroys Endeffera."

Orla stood up, her hands trembling with cold and fear but her face fixed in a mask of confidence.

"Tell your Master that Endeffera will do nothing without Orla's consent, and Orla says that there's no way they're joining him."

Whilst she spoke, she began to charge up an energy orb in her hands. As her statement closed, the _atillian's _face contorted into a snarling expression of fury and the spirit grabbed the child through a movement so unnaturally quick that no-one cold have escaped it. Orla struggled to break free of its grasp, but was unable to move. She tried to open her mouth to scream in terror, but no sound came out, nor did her mouth move. The _atillian _had her paralysed.

It held onto her shoulders and fixed its gaze on her. Slowly, it's mouth opened and it breathed deeply, and with its intake of breath Orla felt her limbs growing heavier and heavier until she felt she was unable to support her weight anymore. She was unaware what was happening to her.

She was unaware that the _atillian _sucking her life from her.

*****

Link pushed the heavy front door open and darted through it, his sword drawn and anger blazing in his eyes.

_If Orla's here, if that thing is after her, then nothing's going to stand in my way._

Breaking and entering, he reasoned, would be acceptable if one believed that the actions were in the best intentions of the house's occupants. And if everyone was asleep, then no-one would see him. He could just imagine it, the owners of the house waking up in a daze to see the Prince of Hyrule asking if they'd seen his daughter.

"Orla, get away from it!" 

Link did a double take as he heard a voice crying a familiar name hoarsely and in a great amount of fear. 

"Orla!" he cried and ran towards the stairs in pursuit of the voice.

He didn't stop running, even as he felt his blood run cold. The feeling of coldness was unshakable now, everything in the house seemed to be made of ice. Link hadn't felt such a chill since the Snowtop Temple, and even then that chill had been escapable with constant movement. This temperature drop was inescapable.

A door loomed before him at the top of the stairs, and something inside his head told him that beyond this barricade he would find what he was looking for. He flung the door open with a thud and wasted no time in notching a Light Arrow in his bow. An even colder flush than the temperature in the house ran through the man as he caught sight of the shadow creature with its grip on a little girl's shoulders.

_His _little girl's shoulders.

He released the arrow and watched it pierce the creature through the eyes with a look of grim hatred on his face. There was no satisfaction in his expression as he watched the light consume the creature, nor was there a sense of victory. All there was present in him was a feeling of dread.

Without the _atillian _to hold her upright, Orla slumped forward and toppled to the ground, soundless and with no move to right herself. Cordelia flew to the child and caught her before she hit the floor, a shocked gasp escaping from her lips. She put her head against Orla's chest, the she put her fingers to the child's wrist before she moved to her neck. Link blinked in recognition of this woman before flying to his daughter's side and grabbing her from the grasp of her grandmother. His eyes widened at the sight of her ashen face and her wide, staring eyes. 

"No..."

"There is no pulse-"

"No." Link said firmly, shaking his head. "Orla, Orla snap out of it. Come on baby, it's Daddy, please..."

Cordelia shook her head and did not attempt to hide her tears.

"It's over. Her heart's stopped." 

"No!" Link yelled, pulling Orla into a sitting position, shaking her softly, brushing her hair away from her face. "Come on sweetheart, wake up. Wake up! Please!"

Cordelia's tears grew more constant as Link's efforts died. He brushed his daughter's face softly with his fingertips, a sombre look of disbelief on his face. With one final pass of his hand, he closed Orla's eyes and then drew her body against his in a hug, rocking her softly the way he had all those years ago when as a tiny baby she had woken in the night, crying for him or Zelda to comfort her, the way he had when she had fallen over and cut her knee on the stairs.

The whole house was woken as the heart wrenching, anguished cry of a grief stricken father echoed through the still night air.

Orla was dead.

_to be continued..._


	9. The Aftershock

Disclaimer: The Legend of Zelda: The Ocarina of Time and Majora's Mask are two of the most astonishingly amazing games ever created. Shigeru Miyamoto is a genius and I believe that we as the Zelda adoring public should push to have him cannonised. Or knighted. Well, he owns Zelda anyway, so I don't, even though I wouldn't object to it. 

A.N: Is it just me, or does the Wind Waker look bloody gorgeous? Cartoony or not, I WANT THAT GAME AND I WANT IT NOW! PER-LEASE! 

(Personal theory: Does anyone else think that the blonde pirate girl could quite possibly turn out to be Zelda in diguise? I mean, it is rumoured that Zelda and Ganon are in the new game, and Zelda has disguised herself as stranger things in the past...) 

Chapter 9: The Aftershock.

She knew that something had happened to her daughter even before her body was brought home to the castle. 

But even though she knew deep down that it was in vain, she still clung to that tiny shred of hope that Orla was safe right up until Epona walked into inner courtyard carrying a pale-faced Link and followed by a man she'd never seen driving a cart. Never in her life had Zelda been unable to read an expression on Link's face.

Now she wished that she had been.

She had been running the moment she had spotted Epona from the window of Orla's bedroom. She had sat there all night, idly stroking Fang and staring out of the window, waiting for the dawn. When the horse had come into view, she had ran downstairs and to the courtyard to greet her husband. She stopped running when the cart drove under the portcullis, breathing heavily. Her eyes travelled to the cart and then to Link's face, but he looked away. He looked at the cart.

As her father and the others rushed into the courtyard, Zelda walked slowly over to the vehicle, her stomach churning uncomfortably. 

She didn't need to look under the blankets that covered the bier in the back of the cart to establish what had happened.

"No..." She took a step backwards, her hands covering her mouth and shaking uncontrollably. "This isn't happening, it isn't real. Please gods this isn't real."

The cart driver cast his sympathetic eyes on the princess.

"I'm sorry ma'am, there was nothing that could be done..."

"She isn't- she can't be- my baby can't be..." She shook her head over and over again.

Link's eyes were cast downwards, fixated on the pommel of his saddle.

"Zelda," Harkinian murmured, taking hold of his daughter's shoulders from behind.

"Orla!" she screamed. "NO!"

Her legs gave way and she clung to her father's tunic as she wept, her body racking with sob after convulsive sob. Harkinian cradled her against him, tears shining in his eyes as he rocked his weeping daughter in his arms.

It was too much for Link to bear.

Not saying a word, he turned Epona around and cantered from the courtyard.

"Link!" Aidyn called.

Olaran shook his head as he put his hand on his son's shoulder.

"Let him go, sometimes it's best for a man to be alone at a time like this."

Ranlink was holding onto his father's hand.

"Dad, what's happened to Orla? Why's Zelda crying?"

Aidyn knelt before his son and put his hands on the boy's shoulders, staring him straight in the eye.

"Ranny, Orla..." he paused and swallowed hard, glancing down at the ground before making eye contact again. "I'm afraid that Orla has died."

"What?!" Ranny cried, his eyes wide with panic. "Bu- but she was fine yesterday! She was- she was- how? How did she-?"

"I don't know son, no-one knows."

"But she's my cousin, my best friend! I love her!" he shouted. "Why did she have to die?"

"Ssh," Aidyn soothed.

"It's not fair, it's not FAIR!" Ranny yelled, tears streaming down his face.

Aidyn grabbed his child and hugged him tightly, muffling the hoarse sobs with his body.

"I know it isn't fair," Aidyn whispered. "Nothing's fair at all."

******

Link spat out a mouthful of water to lose the taste of bile in mouth. Trembling, he got to his feet and wiped his mouth on the back of his hand, breathing heavily to steady himself. As soon as he had got away from the castle a wave of nausea had overcome him and he'd been violently sick.

And still his tears did not fall.

They wouldn't come, not even when he sat quietly in Cordelia's house with Orla in his lap, silently rocking her body in his arms. Her hands were so cold, like blocks of ice. Cordelia was weeping softly, her face buried in her hands.

"Why didn't you stop it?"

She had looked up at the owner of the flat, emotionless voice that had been directed at her.

"I'm sorry?"

Link's eyes had been hard, piercing and full of hatred.

"You were there, you were right there and you didn't stop it."

"What could I have done? No mortal could have done anything-" Her voice was shaking and broken by sharp intakes of breath. "I couldn't have done anything."

"You _wouldn't do anything," Link snapped. "You wanted her dead before she even existed, that thing just saved you the trouble of doing the deed yourself."_

Cordelia shook her head, her face pale with shock.

"I would never do such a thing. I loved the child, I was her grandmother-"

"_You are __not her grandmother!" Link yelled. "You killed her grandmother and you killed her too."_

"No..."

He rose from the floor, his face grey, with Orla's still form cradled against him.

"_Never come near my family again."_

And he had left, taking up the offer of the groom and using both his services and those of the cart to take Orla's body home. She had been covered with a light grey silk cloth, her profile still visible through the fine fabric.

Link couldn't bring himself to ride with the cart.

Images flashed though his mind, haunting him. That thing touching Orla. Orla's unseeing eyes staring up at him, her face a mask of determination. Her beautiful face being covered in a cloth.

Zelda's scream of agony, her legs collapsing beneath her as she sought solace from her father.

It should have been his arms comforting her.

He couldn't let Zelda look at him. Blaming Cordelia for Orla's death may have felt right at the time, but it had been a long ride home and during that time he had come to realise who was responsible for his daughter's death.

It was his fault.

******

Orla's body had been laid out in her bedroom on the bed. Olaran and Aidyn had carried the bier upstairs with Harkinian and Zelda following behind. Zelda hadn't been able to stop crying.

Memories flew around her head of happier days, days like the day she became aware that she was going to have a baby. She had been sitting alone in her bedroom on the window seat in the partial darkness as the sun began to set, her hands in her lap and her eyes downcast as her mind went over the enormity of the situation she found herself in.

"There you are! I was wondering where you got to."

Link had walked over to her and dropped a kiss on her forehead. She had looked up at him and smiled weakly. Instantly he had been aware that something was wrong, she remembered that well.

"Are you OK sweetheart? You've been so quiet today."

She had nodded and looked up into his eyes.

"I've just been thinking about the prophecy."

"Ah."

He sat down beside her and drew her into his lap, brushing her hair away from her face.

"Don't dwell on it. We know that it's coming, but we can't let it govern our lives. We'll cross that bridge when we come to it but we should just-"

"I think that we've come to the bridge."

Link had stared at her in disbelief.

"What?"

She hadn't been able to meet his eyes.

"I'm late Link."

He had paused and passed his fingers through his hair.

"Maybe you've just been stressed, there's been a lot happening this month-"

"Two months late."

"What?"

"You must have noticed that I'd missed my cycles."

Link had scratched his head.

"The thought hadn't really crossed my mind."

A silence had fallen between them, neither looking at the other.

"So," she had said quietly. "This means that we have seven months to prepare. We should go and see Rauru, talk to him about it-"

She had been cut short as Link's hand travelled to her belly and rested there.

"What are you doing?"

He'd smiled and kissed her cheek.

"Trying to feel the baby. Has it kicked yet?"

"No."

Link had then pulled her into his lap and stared deeply into her eyes.

"Let's take the _endeffera thing and put a pin in it for a moment. For the time being, let's forget about it and concentrate on the most important thing."_

She remembered frowning.

"I think that our child's power might possibly be-"

"Zel, you just said what the most important thing is. Our child. Our flesh and blood. If you didn't know what the future holds for him or her then would you be this unhappy?"

"I'm not unhappy, it's just that..." She had looked down at her abdomen where Link's hand was still positioned. "I'm scared. I'm scared of what it'll grow up into, what it'll do to us. I don't want to lose our child to anything, you have no idea how much I want everything to be normal and OK."

"It will be, everything's going to turn out fine for everyone."

She had smiled and leant forwards for a kiss.

"I love you."

Seven months later, Orla had come into their world, a tiny and perfect being who had enthralled everyone from the first glance.

Seven years later, Orla's world had ended.

Now Zelda moved into her daughter's room after spending hours alone in her bedroom mourning her loss. Her eyes were red from the constancy of her tears, but the look on her face was calm and reserved as she closed the door behind her and took up a seat beside the bed. A shaking hand passed lovingly across the stone cold brow of her daughter's head, the way it had often done in the past when she had been sleeping.

"You shouldn't be here Orla," she whispered. "You shouldn't be like this. It's a horrible dream and any minute now I'll wake up with your father beside me and then you and Amalia will come in and destroy the calm by jumping on the bed, just like you always do."

She shuddered and wrapped her arms around herself.

"But you won't, will you?"

******

Saria let the last note of her tune die on the night air as Epona trudged wearily into the forest. She looked up over the head of the Kokiri who had come to listen to her play and put her ocarina into her lap. Mido looked at her with a puzzled face.

"Why'd you stop?"

She looked alarmed and the leader of the Kokiri followed her gaze to the horse and rider. His face lit up and he bellowed at the top of his small voice.

"Hey everyone, Link's come to visit!"

The entire population appeared from out of thin air and ran towards their 'older brother,' laughing excitedly. Only Saria hung back as she saw the expression on his face.

"Something's happened, hasn't it Link?" she whispered.

Link walked obliviously through the adoring Kokiri towards his treehouse, his face grey and listless. The children of the forest quieted immediately as he went into his childhood home without saying a word.

"Geez, what a grump," Mido grumbled, folding his arms across his chest. 

Saria waited until all the other Kokiri had gone back into their homes before she ventured towards Link's treehouse. Her fairy Flora perched anxiously on her head.

"Saria, don't you think we should-"

"Ssh," the Sage reprimanded. "Link needs somebody."

With that, she climbed the stairs and went into the single roomed dwelling, immediately noticing her friend who was curled up in a ball on his bed, staring blankly at the wall. She knelt by his head and passed her small hand across his brow, her face lined with concern. His eyes met with hers and in that instant Saria could see nothing but turmoil. She murmured softly and flung her arms around his neck, hugging him tightly.

"Stay with me," Link pleaded softly.

Saria nodded and raised his head off the bed before occupying that space. His head rested in her lap and she stroked his hair softly, the way she had always done when he had come to her crying as a very small child after a particularly nasty encounter with Mido. Over the years, those occasions had become rarer and rarer, in fact she hadn't comforted him in this way since he'd been five years old.

"Orla died last night," he murmured quietly. 

Saria didn't know how to handle death. It was one of the great mysteries of the world that she didn't understand, and one of the things that terrified her. She remembered the night that a young, auburn haired woman had invaded the sanctity of their forest carrying a screaming baby in her arms. At the time, she'd been sleeping in the Great Deku Tree's meadow and had seen everything that had come to pass, she'd seen the unseeing eyes and the colourless face and had been disturbed by the stillness.

The thought of Orla being that still made her feel sick.

"Ssh," she whispered. "Ssh."

High above the forest, in the highest heavens, the moon glowed brightly and illuminated the land with an eery blue light. It was almost as if the satellite knew that the following night its light would die for a few hours, as the heavens prepared for the lunar eclipse.

The heavens prepared for Shadow Night.

_Nox Nocte._

_to be continued..._


	10. Nox Nocte

Disclaimer: Zelda no Densetsu no Miyamoto-san desu. Le Legend de Zelda est le propriété de Monsieur Miyamoto. Um... how many more languages should I say it in? Well, it all means that I don't own Zelda.

A.N: Pull up a chair and get comfy, this is gonna be a long one...

Chapter 10: Nox Nocte

There were six lights in a circle behind her; green, red, blue, purple, orange and yellow. She herself was surrounded by her own aura of pale golden light, a beacon in the shadows like her fellow sages. 

_What am I doing here?_

Zelda's subconscious attention turned to the scene before her. Darkness, nothing but inky blackness that was only broken by the presence of herself and the other sages. Nervously, her eyes flicked back and forth across the scene, her mind contemplating the location of Link. 

The Seven could not fight without their champion.

Suddenly, a figure loomed before her, a stranger she had never seen before who stood before the unseen enemy, challenging him with what Zelda presumed to be some kind of staff, it was certainly far too big to be a sword. This new warrior turned to face her, and she was aware only of his eyes. Only they weren't what she'd have called eyes, they were mere shadows of eyes that fixed upon her with a colourless stare. That stare chilled her to the core.

Zelda awoke suddenly in the darkness of the night to find herself lying on her side with Amalia cuddled up beside her. The little girl had been put to sleep in her mother's bed whilst Zelda herself had laid awake, watching her daughter breathing softly and taking comfort from her proximity. Impa had eventually given the princess a herbal remedy to make her sleep.

But it wasn't the concoction of herbs that had made her witness that dream. Zelda knew far too well from her years of experience when she had experienced a prophetic dream and the one she had witnessed had certainly meant something. 

The question was: what?

******

"He hasn't slept and he hasn't eaten anything, he just lies there, saying nothing."

Saria's shoulders drooped in fatigue and lack of cheer. Darunia's large hand positioned itself on her shoulder in a comforting gesture as the pair stood outside her house in the Kokiri Forest.

"He'll get through this Saria, he's a tough nut to crack, our brother. And you're forgetting that he has got one of the most powerful weapons to help him fight this."

Saria shook her head.

"I've never seen him like this before. I mean, there's no spark there anymore."

"There won't be for a while I'm afraid, he's lost one of the most important things he's ever had. You couldn't possibly understand the bond between a parent and their child."

Again, the green haired Kokiri shook her head.

"That's not true. I know how much he adored her, I know how much she adored him and I know how much I love Link. I watched him grow up Darunia, and I know that I don't understand about the world or about adults but I do know about love. I've seen it. I saw how much Link's mother loved him, I see the look in his eyes every time someone mentions Zelda's name and I saw how he held Orla when I first saw her. I know I don't understand, but I know."

Darunia smiled at the ten year old adult.

"I forget sometimes that you are older than all of us, little one."

She sighed and sat down cross legged on the grass. Darunia joined her.

"I don't know what you think, but I think he needs to go home."

"He is home," Saria protested.

"There will always be a place for him here but it isn't where he belongs. Right now, there is someone out there whose loss is the same and who is feeling as bad as he is, only she doesn't know how it happened or why it happened and that in a way is making it harder for her."

Saria looked into Darunia's coal black eyes and frowned.

"Zelda doesn't know what happened?"

Darunia shook his head.

"No. Link hasn't said a word to her about how it happened. Has he told you?"

Saria shook her head.

"He's only said seven words since he's been here."

******

"...there is someone out there whose loss is the same and who is feeling as bad as he is, only she doesn't know how it happened or why it happened and that in a way is making it harder for her."

Link didn't want to hear Darunia's voice. He heard the truth in his deep tones and he knew that his friend was right, only he didn't want to go back. He couldn't go back.

_"Daddy, Daddy!"_

_The two year old Orla let go of her mother's hand and tore across the courtyard to her father. Zelda smiled serenely as her daughter was tossed into the air and hugged against her father's chest._

_"It's plain to see who she loves the best."_

_Link laughed and kissed Orla's cheek as he walked towards Zelda._

_"Orla, who do you love more?"_

_"Link! You can't ask her something like that-"_

_"'pona."_

_Both parents stared gobsmacked at their offspring._

_"Farore Zel, she's as diplomatic as you are."_

_Orla giggled and kissed her father's cheek before reaching out for her mother and repeating the action._

_"Love yoo boaf."_

How could he go home without being met at the courtyard by his little girl? How could he look Zelda in the eye knowing how he'd let their daughter die?

He couldn't.

Just couldn't.

And he lay on his side, staring at the wall and watching the shadows change with every passing hour. It was only when Saria came in carrying a bowlful of mushroom soup at about noon that he moved. To Saria he looked a different person with his features unshaven and sleep deprived. His eyes looked dull and tired from lack of sleep and his face was as pale as it had been the night before. She set the soup down on the log table and put her hands on her hips.

"You look terrible."

"Thanks."

His voice sounded hoarse and dismissive, but Saria was not swayed.

"I've brought you some soup, I thought you might be hungry."

"Thanks, but I'm not hungry."

"You should eat something, it's not good for you to-"

"I said I'm not hungry," he snapped. "Just back off already."

Saria shrank back in alarm before her own face slipped into a mask of anger.

"I'm trying to be your friend and help you! Would you stop being so pathetic and look around you?" she cried.

Link's head rose from the pillow and looked at her quizzically.

"Look at what? Look at the world and think 'Hey, what a great place it is!' Well I'm sorry to disappoint you, but I don't think it's that great a place at the moment," he growled.

"I know you don't think that, but hiding away in here isn't going to make things any better. You have get a hold of yourself before you waste away. That's not going to do anyone any good," Saria protested. "It's not just you that's got to deal with this, or have you forgotten that Orla had a mother and a sister?"

Link closed his eyes.

"Of course I haven't forgotten. How can I face them? It's just that I- I let that thing kill Orla."

His eyes opened as he felt Saria's arms wrap around his neck.

"Link, I can't comfort you here because I'll never know what it's like to lose a child. But you need to go home, you need to be with your family. They need you, and you need them."

She drew back and lifted her friend's hand, staring intently into his listless blue eyes.

"It's what Orla would have wanted."

Link turned his head away from her face, but it was caught by the Kokiri's hands and made to look.

"And you know it."

******

Zelda walked through the castle gardens early in the morning with a light shower casting a hazy mist about the shrubbery, hoping that the fresh air would inspire her thoughts into interpreting the strange dream she had witnessed. Amalia's small hand clutched her mother's as the two princesses walked silently in the open air beneath Zelda's umbrella. No one would have thought that the family had befallen such a terrible tragedy were it not for Zelda's black shawl and the black satin ribbon that kept Amalia's curls away from her face. The atmosphere inside the castle itself was so claustrophobic that Zelda had felt herself suffocating and had escaped with Amalia into the fresh air, out into the light. Amalia was the only thing that had stopped her soul from plummeting to the point of no return. 

Amalia tugged at her mother's hand and cried out in excitement.

"Look Mama, flowa!"

She broke free and ran to a bright red bloom, laughing happily and reaching out to touch the petals with her chubby hand.

"Pretty!"

Zelda forced a smile and knelt beside her daughter.

"It is isn't it? What sort of flower is it, poppet?"

Amalia frowned in concentration and then cried the answer cheerfully.

"Wose!"

Zelda nodded and plucked the flower from the bush, picking the thorns from its stalk before handing it to the two year old.

"For you," she said with a forced attempt at being cheerful. "A special flower for a special girl."

Amalia giggled and inhaled the rose's perfume. Zelda ruffled her daughter's golden curls and stood up, surveying the mist cloaked garden. Had it only been a month ago that she had started training Orla with magic in this garden?

It seemed like an age.

"When's Olla coming?"

Amalia tugged on her mother's skirt and stared persistently at her.

Zelda swallowed hard. She had tried to make Amalia understand, she had taken her to Orla's room to say goodbye, and the little girl hadn't understood. Two year olds weren't supposed to understand death.

"Orla's not coming out this morning darling. She's... sleeping."

"Oh."

The clattering of hooves on the cobbles of the courtyard caught the princess' ears. Her heartbeat quickened in the slim hope that the horse she would see would be Epona. Taking Amalia by the hand, she retraced their steps to the courtyard. The rider was dismounting as mother and daughter passed through the gate. Zelda stopped dead in her tracks.

It was Link.

"Daddy!" Amalia squealed and broke free of her mother's grasp. "Daddy!"

Link's eyes met with Zelda's for the briefest of moments before his attention turned fully to Amalia. In that second, Zelda had been able to see the torment in his soul. She could feel it too. It was an emotion she was sharing all too painfully with him.

Link scooped Amalia into his arms and hugged her tightly, his eyes closed tightly as he nuzzled his cheek against his daughter's golden curls. The rain had made his hair fall lankly in his eyes, dampening his face to the extent that Zelda was unable to see his tears whether they were there or not.

"Where you been?" Amalia demanded.

"In the Forest with aunty Saria," he said quietly. 

He could still feel Zelda's eyes upon him, he always could.

One of the side doors opened and Catrine appeared with Aidyn by her side. The pair caught sight of Link, who remained oblivious of anyone but Amalia and Zelda.

"Olla's sleeping," Amalia said matter of factly.

"I know," he whispered, barely audible.

His body started to tremble, and Zelda knew it wasn't from the cold. A harsh, choked sob escaped his mouth, a warning that the floodgate hung on its last hinges. Catrine had moved over to the pair and had taken Amalia from him, removing her with the promise of milk and cookies indoors. Aidyn lingered a moment after his wife, watching his brother intently. Zelda's eyes met his and she nodded for him to follow Catrine before she herself walked slowly towards the man she loved. The umbrella lay discarded in the rain.

Link's eyes raised to meet his wife's gaze and found his own face reflected in her eyes. He looked, to put it mildly, like shit. 

He half expected her to be angry, he expected her to shout and yell at him for failing their daughter. He expected her to hate him.

So when she took him in her arms and held him close, he didn't know what to think. All he knew was that he nestled his head against her shoulder and let her arms hold him tightly. Her body felt warm, and it was that warmth he clung to like an infant, it was the closeness of her body that soothed him. Her fingers brushed through the tangled mass of his hair and her body pressed itself against his. 

"It's going to be alright my love, we'll get through this."

It was only when he heard her soothing tones that he realised he was crying. His body convulsed as he sobbed bitterly against her shoulder and his tears flowed as freely as the rivulets of water that rushed around the channels between the cobbles.

"I'm so sorry," he wept. "I let her down, I let that thing-"

"Link don't. Don't do this to yourself."

"I let our daughter die Zelda," he repeated.

He felt her hands at his cheeks and was compelled to meet her bottomless gaze. He noticed how pale she was, how the dark bags framed her eyes and made her look older.

"I am not going to hear you say that again. I know you, and I know that you did everything that could possibly be done."

She hugged him and wrapped her right arm around his waist while she used her free hand to bring his left arm over her shoulder. Her fingers entwined in his and warmed his hand gently, her fingertips lovingly passing over his knuckles in a comforting gesture. Without protest, she led her husband indoors into the warmth.

******

The afternoon dragged on slowly.

Amalia had been temporarily taken into the custody of Catrine who spent the afternoon entertaining the children in the library. Only Ranny failed to participate, staring aimlessly out of the window at the rain and not saying a word.

Far away in Gerudo Valley, Navali's gaze focused on the rain clouds and its produce through the narrow window in her mother's rooms. Nabooru had removed her daughter from the children's dormitory as soon as word had reached her of Orla's death. There was no way she was letting her daughter suffer such a loss in a place where she was habitually tormented. 

After Navali had been told, she had gone into a state of shock. She had quietly asked for the statement to be repeated. There had been tears, but these had ebbed and the girl had left her mother's room quietly. Nabooru had been surprised by this reaction, but it was only later when she had been summoned by Ura's chambers that Navali's strange behaviour had been explained. Alanya had been leaning against the wall, looking a sorry state. Her left eye was half closed and swollen due to a heavy purple bruise over it and her bottom lip was equally swollen as well as being split. Her white tube top was stained with blood. Navali stood opposite her, her face emotionless and on her part sporting slightly bruised knuckles on her right hand. When asked what had caused her to attack the girl, Navali had replied simply that if she couldn't take revenge on the thing that killed Orla then she would make do with going after the cause of Orla's disappearance.

Alanya would certainly never pick on Navali again.

Looking up from her work, Nabooru watched her child anxiously and then walked over to her, taking a seat beside her at the window.

"The heavens are weeping for Hyrule's loss," she commented.

Navali nodded without a word.

"Would you like to ride over to the castle later, so you can say goodbye?"

The girl shook her head.

"She hasn't gone," she said quietly. "I know that she's still here."

Nabooru put her hand on her daughter's bare shoulder.

"Vali, Orla has left this plain. I know that it's sad, but it's something that you and I are going to have to accept and eventually come to terms with. Denial won't work this time."

Navali's body trembled and her mother reached out to take the child into her lap. She wrapped her arms tightly around her while she wept, her own eyes welling with tears. When she had found out, the first thing that had flown through Nabooru's mind was the thought of what would have happened had the situation been reversed and she was the one who had lost a child. Such a thought was not worth having.

"I know it's difficult, but things will get easier. I promise."

Navali shook her head.

"They won't! She's my best friend, I don't have anyone anymore!"

Nabooru's arm was damp with her daughter's tears as she stroked the top of her head.

"You do have somebody baby," she assured her gently. "You've got me, and we will always have each other."

******

"...it was all over. She'd gone."

Link's voice trembled as he sat on the edge of his and Zelda's bed. He felt his throat tighten as tears threatened again until he heard a quiet sob beside him. His eyes had been fixed on the floor all the time he had been speaking, and now that his account of Orla's death was finished his attention shifted to Zelda. She was crying, and because of his preoccupation with his tale he hadn't even noticed that she had been. All of the guilt he had been feeling suddenly shifted back onto his heart at the sight of her tears. The mother of his children was crying.

And he knew whose fault it was.

Every conscious thought that he had screamed at Link to take her into his arms, and he did so, remembering how she had held him earlier. She was his lifeline, and he hers.

"I shouldn't have asked," she sniffed.

Link gently rubbed her back as she nestled into his arms. She had forgotten in those hours that he hadn't been just how good it felt to be near him, to breathe his familiar scent and to feel his strength in his embrace. It felt as though part of her being had returned to her with their reconciliation, even though it was no compensation for the loss that had led to their reunion.

"You needed to know, and I needed to tell someone," he murmured. 

"I can't believe that it was as cruel as that. That creature, it to have been something with no soul."

_Or maybe it was purely a soul. An evil soul. _

Zelda knew the tales she had been told well. She knew the names of all the creatures of darkness, she knew all too well. And in her heart of hearts she knew exactly how her daughter's demise had been caused. Dark souls all came under the command of one entity.

Mortis.

It sickened her to know how an immortal god, the perfect being, had disposed of Orla. She had been in his way, and he had destroyed her being with one simple, underhanded command. For that, her retribution would have to be taken.

"I need to be punished for what I've done."

Her eyes met with his with an expression of fervent passion in their depths.

"Don't you think that we're suffering enough with what we're going through? You haven't done anything wrong, can't you see? This isn't either of our doing, this is the work of Mortis."

Link misunderstood her meaning. 

"It's my fault she's gone."

Zelda could scarcely believe her ears, or her eyes for that matter. Her husband was not the man she remembered, he seemed broken and the sparkle in his eyes had dulled until it was no longer detectable. And it was all because of the ruthlessness of a God. She just wished she could make him understand.

"Link..."

"I didn't get there in time, I was too late. I didn't push myself hard enough, wasn't concentrating. I kept thinking about us, and I didn't think how much danger she was in. I was too late, it's my fault-"

"Don't say that!" Zelda begged. "I told you, it wasn't your fault. I don't blame you for what happened. Mortis killed her-"

"I don't deserve you to be so understanding," he said softly. "Not when our daughter's dead because of me. I blamed you for her defending herself, I didn't think about your motives or even let you explain why you were teaching her. I was just so angry that you kept it secret and I didn't concentrate. It's as though I killed her myself-"

"You didn't kill her Link. You know that, stop berating yourself. None of this is your fault."

Olaran was standing in the doorway, his facial expression apologetic. Zelda stood up at her father in law's arrival, but Link remained in his place on the bed.

"I'll be in the garden," she said, kissing the top of Link's head lovingly before leaving the room.

"I didn't mean to interrupt but the door was ajar," Olaran said quietly. "If you blame yourself for this then you're going to destroy yourself. This was nothing but a tragic accident that no-one could have prevented, I think that deep down you know that."

He went to his son's side and took his hands in his before sitting beside him.

"Blaming yourself might seem like the reasonable thing to do right now, but it doesn't do anyone any good. Believe me, I've been there, it's not the right road to go down. I lost two people that I loved, remember? Only I was fortunate enough to get you back."

Link stared at his father for a moment.

"How did you do it Dad?"

The general knew what his son meant and sighed.

"I got up everyday, looked out of the window at the sun and reminded myself that although part of my world had crumbled away, there were still things to be thankful for. Some days it was harder than others, but if anything got me through it all it was Aidyn. He still needed someone to rely on, and in his reliance on me I relied on him. The pain never goes away Link, but every day it gets easier and easier until the pain is nowhere near as bad as it is right now. And as time goes by, more and more things make you smile again until you know that you are going be alright."

He put his arm around his son's shoulders.

"You have to be strong my son. Zelda needs you, and Amalia can't be deprived of a father now that she's lost a sister. You'll draw your strength from them the way Aidyn and I survived."

Link let his father hug him as his words sunk in.

"The gods must really hate us," he said dryly. 

Olaran shook his head.

"No Link, they don't hate us. Things always seem worse than they are. You are still blessed with a beautiful wife who loves you and a thriving daughter, just as I was left with your brother and the hope that you were still alive. And Orla loved you, that is the most important thing. She loved and was loved. There are some who never attain that throughout their whole lives yet your daughter achieved that in seven short years. She should never have been taken from us so early, I agree with that fully, but remember that in the grand scale of things that her parting has some greater purpose."

_Greater purpose._

At that moment, Link felt as though a smoke screen had been blown away from his eyes. He knew what Orla's greater purpose was, and she had died before that purpose had been achieved.

What now did that leave for the rest of them?

******

The evening sun was dying in a beautiful and dramatic display of reds, golds and purples, streaking the sky like a myriad of coloured paints carelessly thrown across a blank canvas. Had she not been so downhearted, Zelda would have taken a long time watching the beauty of the scene and taking pleasure from it, only she found that very little could lighten her spirits at that moment. The God of Death had taken her daughter from her, and not in the normal and acceptable way. She had never felt such hatred for anything, not even Ganon.

"Tell me everything about nox nocte."

Zelda looked up as Link walked over to her and met his eyes determinedly. She would make him listen this time.

"Nox nocte is the night that the Dark God Mortis will try to invade this world from his prison in the Evil Realm. Endeffera defeated him before and trapped him in the Evil Realm, and now that he has been exposed to a great enough power source he has gained the strength to break through into our realm. When the stars are in the right alignment then he will make his move, which was when Orla was to use her power to send him back. Which was why sent that dark soul to get rid of his opposition. Mortis was the one who killed her Link, literally."

Link felt his guilt ease with her words, though not absolutely. In it's wake however, he was left with the stirrings of anger at the thought that an unknown enemy had taken something so precious from him without his knowledge.

"How do you know all this?"

"I was going to tell you as soon as I heard about the business between Orla and Alanya. But then-"

She took a few deep, stabilising breaths.

"I was told in dream by Endeffera, she came to me the night before I started training Orla. She told me what was expected of Orla and I was blinkered by what she said. Only I could train her, and it was those words that made me keep it secret from you. I'm so sorry."

Link looked at Zelda for a moment, forgetting what could possibly have made him think that she'd kept it secret from him for a selfish purpose. His wife hadn't a selfish bone in her body.

"You have nothing to be sorry about," he said gently, touching her cheek.

"Now we have to face him with no hope of having enough power to defeat him."

Zelda felt Link's hand on top of hers in a comforting gesture. Her unease weakened slightly at his touch, but it was still weighing heavily on her, as destructive as ever.

"I don't know what to do Link, I don't know when it's going to happen, I don't know how or where but all I know is that Mortis will come."

Link's arm draped across her shoulder and drew her body in closer to his. She sighed and leaned in closer to his embrace, drawing in the warmth from him and the overall sense of safety that always accompanied her being with him. She wished that circumstances were different, that they were all safe and sound and that they could be as happy as they had all been a week ago.

As happy as she had been the morning before Orla disappeared.

Her hand absently rested on her stomach as she closed her eyes. The overwhelming desire to just collapse and let the world cave in around her had lessened now that Link was home, but it still niggled in the back of her mind. But she knew she had to keep going, for her own sake as well as Link's and Amalia's and for their future. 

And for Orla.

"I missed you."

Her voice was barely above a whisper, but it was loud enough to be heard by the intended audience. He dropped a gentle kiss to her brow.

"I missed you too. I hurt you so much, it's unforgivable-"

"Link please, I don't care about that. All I care about is having you here with me again. Nothing else matters."

"Except this stupid Mortis thing and nox nocte."

Zelda lulled his words through her head. She wished that such a night had never been decreed by the heavens, it was cruel enough having her daughter robbed from her but then to force the humiliation of certain defeat at the hands of the foe who had committed the crime. 

_Nox nocte._

The word whispered through her head, teasing her with its three syllables and prompting her to think that she was missing something terribly obvious.

And then it hit her.

"Shadow Night!"

Link caught her startled expression and frowned.

"Impa mentioned it the other day," Zelda continued. "It's a major Sheikah festival that's very important to them. She used to take me to it when I was younger, it was a night time celebration of the lunar eclipse. They called it Shadow Night."

She looked at him with a worried expression on her face.

"If I'd only concentrated more on what was going on instead of Orla's magic! I should have been preparing myself too, and the others! How could I have been so damn stupid?"

"What are you talking about?" Link asked, taking her shaking hands in his.

"...and when she said that the stars had to be in the right alignment, how could I have forgotten about the sun being a star?"

She suddenly turned her head to Link and moaned piteously.

"Nox nocte is now. Tonight."

Whatever reaction she had expected from him was totally forgotten as he responded with a simple nod of his head.

"So, tonight's the night. Gather the Sages."

Zelda stared at him in disbelief.

"We're not ready, it'd be suicide!"

Link stood up, his face filled with determination.

"Even though things are hopeless, we can't just stand by and do nothing. That's not who we are Zelda.  We have to fight him, we've got to try."

"But..."

She paused as she noticed the look in his eyes. She recognised it from many years passed as the same raw determination, the same resolve that had seen the Master Sword put an end to the reign of the Evil King, only now it was coupled with burning and intense anger.

"I'm not letting him get away with taking Orla from us."

_to be continued..._


	11. Last Resorts

Disclaimer: anime animal refuses to aknowledge that she owns The Legend of Zelda. 'Cause she doesn't. But she does own this nifty purple kimono top that she bought from Buddies on Monday. It's really cute, and makes her look very slender in her opinion.

A.N: You might like to refresh your memories of Chapter Seven of Heroes of Hyrule. There is a reference to something I mentioned there that has come back to haunt you, and will make something painfully obvious if you haven't already put two and two together.

More later, after the end.

And the voice is back...

Chapter 11: Last Resorts

The air up here was so much clearer than it was down below and there was so much more vitality, so much energy. There was much to do, and now there was nothing to hinder him in his efforts.

He took a deep and then opened his eyes.

Ah no, maybe he'd been wrong in that last thought.

There were two major sources of power in close proximity to him, power that seemed so familiar but different. It was like that fool Ganon's, only this time there was something else behind it.

The power of good.

Mortis rolled his dark eyes and sought out the direction of the two other Triforce parts. He smiled crookedly and looked up at the skies, mocking the heavens themselves with his grin.

"You could not stop me last time sisters, I should like to see how your feeble champions fare."

But still he felt a nagging sense of unease that hadn't shifted even when he felt Endeffera's power fade out and die. The _atillian _hadn't returned, and that was a small worry in itself at the time, quickly dismissed by Mortis' memory of the one that Dragmire spent most of his time cursing.

Link, the Hero of Time.

Mortis could understand how such a mortal could infuriate the mage, Farore had a knack for producing or favouring especially persistent opponents. He remembered all too well the last encounter he had with Valour, Farore's overly confident son. Cocky or not, the demi-god had kept him occupied long enough for his irritating daughter Endeffera to destroy herself defeating him.

That was not a part of history that would repeat itself.

He turned his head to look over his right shoulder, his attention caught by the sudden appearence of eight lights in the distance, the brightest of these being two golden orbs that flew ahead of the rest. Mortis was under no illusion as to what these lights were.

The welcoming committee had arrived.

******

Zelda had gone with Link to the Temple of Time having summoned the Sages to the Temple of Light. She was satisfied to see them waiting within the Chamber of Sages as Link slid the Master Sword into his scabbard. They had been met by the sympathetic faces of their friends and she had, much to their amazement, hurriedly explained the situation to them leaving no hazy detail whatsoever.

And now, totally unprepared, her Sages were following her into the line of fire totally unprepared to do battle with an immortal God.

She was amazed at how calm she was.

Link was beside her as they warped to their location. It had been simple really to find who they were looking for, they had needed only to wait for the eclipse and then the overwhelming mass of dark power was evident even many miles away as they were. She had seen Link's look of determination on his face many times before, only never with so much unrefined hatred. He was going to take revenge for Orla's death.

Or die trying.

It was that thought that scared her more than the prospect of the battle ahead of them. If she lost Link...

She shook all such thoughts from her head. It didn't bear thinking about, not now. Besides, she needed to have her head clear for the fight ahead of them, she couldn't afford to be distracted. There were more important things to worry about, and she needed them both to come home for Amalia. 

_We will._

Link's voice echoed around her head and she felt at ease with his presence.

_I know we will. Just promise me that you'll-_

_I'm not about to do anything stupid Zelda. Sure I'll be risking my life, but I can't stop living just because Orla's gone. All eight of us will get home safely._

She sighed inwardly as they landed in the centre of a field just a few miles away from Mortis' location. The open space was as black as ink that no even the light of the stars was able to make up for the moon's absence. To the left of Link, Saria shivered in the cool night breeze.

"I don't like this place."

Impa's hand rested on the Kokiri's shoulder as she looked out across the field into the darkness.

"He is close by. It's only a matter of time until he comes to us."

Ruto grimaced and then folded her arms across her chest.

"Yeah, too soon for my liking. Y'know it would have been helpful if _somebody had told us sooner that we were going to have to do battle with a god."_

Zelda hung her head in shame until Link entwined his fingers with hers and gave her hand a reassuring squeeze.

"Y'know it would be helpful if you lay off her Ruto," Nabooru said coldly. "Perhaps you didn't know, but she's just lost her daughter." 

"I-"

"You what? You didn't know? Come off it, I know you're not _that _stupid."

"That's enough!" Link snapped. "Guys, this is going to be hard enough as it is without you two taking pot shots at each other, we need to be a united force here or we're all dead."

The grim reality of his words sunk in immediately.

"He's not as powerful as he was when the other gods imprisoned him," Zelda said quietly, "but I don't think that just one of us is going to be able to contain him in order for Link to deliver the final blow like with Ganon. This is a god we're facing, and I have no idea what his weaknesses are. I'm sorry."

Darunia chuckled good naturedly, turning all attention to him.

"So we're just going to have to throw all we've got at him and take no risks. This is going to be quite a fight, I'm glad that we're not going to miss out on all the action like last time."

Zelda thought that in the darkness she caught the Goron chief winking in her and Link's direction.

"No-one's going to miss out on anything," she said. "Like Link says, we have to be united or else there's no point in us being here. One weak link in the chain and it's all over. There can be no second chances."

"Link's not weak!" Saria protested.

To be fair to Saria, she was very tired and up way past her bedtime, but the absurdity of her comment caused many of the party to laugh.

"Of course he's not," Ruto said testily. "He's the best out of all of us here."

Link was too focused on the task at hand to roll his eyes at her adoring statement.

"The plan is," Zelda began, "to encircle Mortis when he emerges and hold him in a forcefield until Link is able to use the Master Sword to send him back into the Evil Realm."

"No offence Princess, but I don't see him to be the sort of oponent we can just sneak around and trap so easily," Nabooru said gently.

"Which is why I'm going to keep him busy," Link said grimly. "He's going to wish he never set foot on this plain by the time I'm done with him."

"But he's a god," Saria said quietly.

"God or no god, that son of a bitch killed Orla." 

Everyone with the exception of Rauru and Zelda stared at him.

"Is that true?" Impa asked softly, turning to Zelda for confirmation.

Zelda nodded and murmured in reply.

"I thought that something like this might happen," Rauru said sadly, shaking his ancient head. "She had the potential to be too powerful for him to contend with."

"You kn-" Link began, but was interrupted by Zelda's hand on his shoulder.

"What passed has passed. Save it for the person who deserves this anger."

He nodded and even in the darkness could see the expression on her face. Her eyes pleaded with him, and he took her hands in his. 

"Don't worry about me Zelda."

Saria tugged on Darunia's hand insistently.

"Darunia..."

The Goron had been scanning the area intently, alert and ready to fight.

"Darunia, there's a strange man over there," Saria said fiercely and pointing over towards a small cluster of boulders.

The others all caught her words and turned in the direction she was pointing. Sure enough, there sat a man, observing them silently from his seat on a rock.

He was unnaturally tall and wiry looking, with delicate and finely sculpted features that displayed some kind of fragile beauty in them, but he was by no means a beautiful man to look at. His face was pale, almost chalk white and framed with long black hair that absorbed the darkness of the night. The face, whilst essentially young, showed not only some kind of keen intelligence and grim amusement at the situation he was presented with but also the experience of millenia. His robes were deep grey whilst his sash and swirling cloak were of the deepest black. Deep set grey eyes watched them unblinkingly whilst his thin and colourless lips twitched in a mirthless smile.

"Well well well, this is quite the welcome party."

Link pushed Zelda behind him and drew his sword, his glare cold and calculating as he observed the immortal. Mortis chuckled softly and stood up in a graceful, panther-like movement.

"Ah yes, you must be he which Farore chose to embody her will. The resemblance is staggering."

Link gripped the hilt of the Master Sword tighter and narrowed his eyes. The god seemed oblivious.

"And she must be Nayru's chosen," he purred, turning his attention to Zelda. "I might just have to keep her."

Link's temper flared as he glowered furiously at the god. Zelda remained cool, meeting Mortis' eyes with a blazing sea of blue fire.

"Yet like my sisters neither of you are willing to play. What a shame. I suppose that means you shall have to die."

"The only person doing any dying tonight is you!" Link snarled, finding his voice.

Mortis laughed merrily.

"Whelp, I find your optimism refreshing but your attitude irritating. If anything it makes me think even less of that fool Dragmire, as it would have been so nice to find in you a challenge. But what are you? Twenty four, twenty five? A blink of an eye in the scale of the universe. Boy, what hope have you possibly got of defeating _me?"_

"He has every hope in defeating you," Zelda said grimly. "And we will not rest until your attempt to enslave mortality has been quashed."

Link broke into a run and cried a hoarse battle cry as he attacked.

******

Why wasn't he coming to him for help?

The foolhardy mortal was brave, he had to give him that, but all his efforts would prove to be vain if he didn't come to his senses soon.

The god was too much of an enemy for him, anyone could see that. Even with the pretty toys that his Sage friends had given him he was still no match. Light Arrows had no effect, and the constant stream of magic coming from each Sage was not inexhaustible. The little one was wavering, the Zora close behind while the others struggled on, painfully aware of the futility of their actions.

Their forcefield was a brave idea.  The seven of them held the god within a shield of their power, not offering him the opportunity to teleport away as they suspected that he may. 

He had to hand it to that seventh Sage, she knew her stuff.

The Hero would attack, every inch the valiant star of the show. His insatiable quest for Right was a quality that he admired greatly in him, as much as he hated him. He always knew that he needed the Hylian in order to survive. It had been ordained the day Valour had crafted that sword that the Hero held. Throughout the ages, they were bound to each other through some inexplicable force. Even now he didn't know what it was, but fourteen years before the pair had collided and their power had been great, and then the second time it had been deliciously strong, stronger than he had expected.

Third time lucky.

He _would yield, and this time he wasn't going to give up what was rightfully his for the taking._

******

Hope slipped from the grasp of the troubled Sages like dry sand through an hourglass as Link's battered and bruised body hit the ground with a thud and a cry of pain that caused Zelda to cry out in fright. He drew his weary body off the ground, panting heavily and wiping the trickle of blood from his mouth.

Mortis stood regarding the proceedings, his sadistic smile still in place and not a bead of sweat on his body.

"Come come, you are beginning to try my patience. Either you land a blow or I kill you now, although perhaps I should remind you that your death is inevitable."

"You dirty-" Nabooru cried.

Darunia held the irate Gerudo back from flinging herself at the god like a whirling dervish of blades and tanned skin with a sombre shake of his head.

Link spat on the ground and flexed the fingers on his left hand, his breathing laboured.

_I don't know how much more of this I can take._

He shook such thoughts out of his head and braced himself for the ball of black magic Mortis was preparing to fire at him. He stretched the Master Sword out before him, his face a mask of determination as the orb flew at him.

He mistimed his strike.

The dark power struck him on the chest and catapaulted him backwards through the air.

"Link!" Zelda screamed.

The Master Sword whistled through the air and spun away from Link's form as it hit the ground again, face down.

This time, he didn't make any effort to get up.

_Now will you listen to me?_

The absence of the unknown voice finally ended as it spoke, more urgently and sympathetically than ever before.

"Brother, are you alright?" Darunia called.

"Oh no, Link!" Saria and Ruto cried.

"Link!"

Firing a furious orb of magic at Mortis (which impacted as though it had been little more than a bee sting), Zelda flung herself down beside her husband, moving her fingers to his neck to search for a pulse. Much to her relief, his hand touched hers, although the grasp was a lot looser than normal.

"I'm OK."

_Stop lying to yourself. You're losing. Horribly._

"Shut up," he muttered under his breath

Zelda placed both her hands on his chest and closed her eyes, pouring healing magic through his veins and reinstating his energy.

_You can't keep this up, it's not fair to anyone. Look at your wife, she can't take much more of seeing you get tossed about like a rag doll, your body won't either. You must let me help you, otherwise what little chance you have of winning will be destroyed._

Link looked up at Zelda's face and met with her eyes full with worry. 

"Link, can you still fight?"

He nodded.

"Yeah, but I don't know what good it's gonna do. He's too much for me."

_With me, you stand more than a fighting chance._

"I'm not going to give in to you!" Link cried, both to Mortis and to the voice. "I can beat him!"

Mortis laughed, throwing his head back in amusement.

"Come and try it mortal, I am in need of a good workout."

Link struggled off the ground, Zelda offering her arm to help him up.

"I'm OK," he reiterated.

Zelda looked at him sceptically but didn't let go.

"Zel, please. I'll be alright, please just go and help the others."

He walked towards the Master Sword, but as he did his boot connected with something that lay in his path.

"What the-?"

The Fierce Deity Mask looked up at him with its blank eyes.

_You need me._

Link felt a cold sweat trickle down his back. 

"My darkest fear, and yet my strongest ally," he murmured, remembering words spoken long before.

_You need me. _

He looked across at his friends, holding the god within their forcefield. Saria was tiring, he could see her fatigue etched on her face. Ruto looked ready to drop, and the others were by no means looking as fresh as they had before.__

"Link?"

He stooped to pick up the mask, holding it in his hands and staring at its expressionless face.

"If I put you on, how do I know you won't control me?"

_You don't. No-one controls me, you should know that by now._

"No. I'm not going to lose a battle to you as well as that bastard."

Zelda saw what he was holding and gasped.

"Link no, don't use that mask. Please."

He'd told her all about it, he'd explained how powerful it was and had also told her about Athaz. The look of alarm on her face was well justified. 

_If not for the rest of the world, then for her. You don't want her to die, do you? Or maybe you're happy to let that happen, maybe you won't mind when Mortis uses her for his own devices before he kills her. _

"Stop it," he growled.

_He'll do it you know, and then everyone who opposes him will die, starting with her and then he'll go after your daughter, then your father. Your brother's family will all die. Do you really want their blood on your hands?_

Link shook his head and then slumped to his knees in despair.

"If I do it, you must swear not to let me harm anybody after Mortis."

"Link no!" Zelda cried.

_I can't make that promise._

Link swallowed hard as Zelda knelt before him. She touched his face softly.

"Please don't do this," she whispered. "What if you lose control and I can't get you back?"

"Zelda I have to. If I don't, then we can kiss this fight goodbye because I can't beat him. It's not like Ganon, the Master Sword can't hack it. _I can't hack it."_

"But there has to be another way..." she pleaded.

Link shook his head.

"I know, I don't want to do it. I don't want to lose control, I won't be able to stop myself. Which is why you're going to have to."

Zelda's eyes widened in horrific realisation as the Fairy Bow rested in her lap, a single Light Arrow notched in it.

"No! Don't do this to me!"

"I won't fight you. Anyone else and I might, but not you. The mask can take every part of me except this." 

He took up her hand and placed it on his chest above his heart.

"This is yours, and yours alone. I won't fight you, which is why you're going to have to stop me."

"No! Link, I won't let you do this."

"If I don't then everything was in vain. Ganondorf, Majora, Onox, Veran, all of it will be meaningless. Orla will have died for nothing."

Zelda hung her head and blinked back her tears, closing her fingers around the bow.

"Alright. Do it."

Link sighed and then stood up, drawing Zelda up with him. She met his eyes sadly with hers, tears sparkling in their azure depths. He smiled weakly and squeezed her hand softly.

"I love you."

She pressed her forehead against his with a sad smile.

"I know you do."

"No, you don't know. You don't know at all. I love you so much that I don't know what my life would have been like if we'd never met. Farore Zel, you're amazing! You placed your trust in a nobody, you risked everything on his worthless shoulders, you believed in him when no-one else ever had. And then you gave me your heart, you let me love you, married me and let me father your children. You're my soul, my saviour, and I'll never find the words that can fully describe just how much you mean to me. So I'll just make do with I love you in the hope that you understand."

She kissed him despairingly, clinging to him in the hope that he wouldn't let her go. He kissed her back with bittersweet tenderness, breaking reluctantly to cup her cheek in his hand and smile sadly at her.

"Don't let Amalia forget me Zelda."__

And he put on the mask.

******

A.N: The fight, at long last. This however, is not such a great fight. I know, I know, you were all expecting some mammoth battle. But then, if I did that then you wouldn't read Chapter 12. Or 13. Or 14 and 15? Nope. Glad we got that established. Now, go and review. Go on! Review, review review! If I can get up to 110 reviews, then the 110th reviewer will get a present, so be sure to include your e-mail if you want it! (I saw someone use that once, I thought that I'd use it as my own futile attempt at blackmail for reviews.) 


	12. A Game of Wills

Disclaimer: Legend of Zelda belongs to Nintendo, particularly Mr Miyamoto. 

A.N: Well, after promising to give a present to reviewer 110, he forgot to put his e-mail address! The lucky reader/reviewer was Talon, but because he didn't put his e-mail I can't send his prize to him. Oh well, never mind, I suppose that everyone who reviewed Chapter 11 will get a prize, so check your inboxes now! (Talon, if you want the prize too then send me an e-mail and I'll send it to you. If not, don't worry and thanks for reviewing!)

Ho hum, onto Chapter 12. Surprises a go-go, and I'd very much like to know if anyone goes 'ooh!' when they read what the first one is ^_^

Chapter 12: A Game of Wills

The power was the first thing that hit him. Those other times when they'd joined the power had been overwhelming, but now he felt as if every pore radiated raw energy. It was stronger than he'd ever dreamed, the mortal was stronger than he'd ever dreamed.

_Just remember, this is my body and I'm not going to give it up without a fight._

The deity smiled to himself as the situation was reversed. Link was taking a backseat now, letting a real warrior take control, just as it should be. He laughed softly as he caught the expressions on the faces of all seven Sages. The Gerudo was alarmed, that much was clear from the horrified look in her amber eyes, but the others all looked startled and surprised, excluding the old one and the Princess. Her face puzzled him, as its serene beauty seemed exhausted, and her dazzling smile was absent from her face. He chuckled and advanced towards her.

"Do not worry my lady," he said smoothly. "This is the way things were supposed to be."

Zelda shrank back in horror as the terrifying deity reached his hand out to touch her. This wasn't her Link, everything was wrong about this person. He was too strong, too volatile, and she was unable to read anything from his blank, souless eyes, the eyes from her dream. His voice wasn't even the same, it rumbled like thunder and cut like the sharpest of daggers. She hung her head in sorrow, her grip on the Fairy Bow so tight that her knuckles had whitened.

_Believe in me Zelda._

Her head jerked upwards in a sharp movement as she heard Link's voice in her mind. She looked at the Fierce Deity again, searching for any trace of the man she loved and found none. He however understood her action and allowed her eyes to search his form for an explanation.

"You forget Princess, he is not totally gone. We co-exist, only I am the one in command now and not him."

She nodded and swallowed hard.

"I understand," she murmured. "Go, destroy Mortis."

The Fierce Deity laughed and drew his sword, turning on his heel as he did so and advancing upon his adversary.

Mortis' face fell as his opponent made towards him.

"It cannot be you, you are supposed to be exiled!"

"What is it that you suppose an eternity trapped within a mask is?" the Fierce Deity mocked. "For centuries I have been waiting for this moment, and nothing is going to stop me from taking what is rightfully mine."

_What the Hell are you going on about?_

The Fierce Deity ignored his host and charged his sword.

"Do you know that it has been exactly a millenium since last we met, Mortis?

Mortis smiled grimly.

"Really? Such a meaningless battle really has no place in my memory."

Zelda saw him shake in an uncontrollable rage. There was something about this figure that troubled her greatly, apart from the obvious problem with him inhabiting Link's body. There was a sadness within him, the source of which she could not place.

The massive sword which the Fierce Deity held in his hands buzzed and glowed bright blue at the tip before expelling a mass of enormously powerful magic at the God of Death. It seemed as if lightning illuminated the entire field, though there was not a cloud in the sky to produce it.

The blue lightning ball hit Mortis in the center of his chest, and the cry that followed was so harsh and angry that it caused Zelda's blood to run cold.

"You..." 

The Fierce Deity was oblivious to the warning growl and fired again, this time hitting the God's left shoulder. His arm flew back with a sickening snap and hung limply by his side, dislocated and bleeding dark crimson blood.

And the blue haired swordsman laughed.

******

That laughter, that laughter didn't come from Link. Saria knew that, they all knew that, but it was the Kokiri who was most visibly disturbed by the appearence of this new player in their game of survival. She struggled to control the output of her magic as a startled cry escaped her throat.

"Who is that?!"

"The demon," Nabooru whispered. "Oh Link, I hope you know what you're doing."

A seventh stream of magic rejoined the forcefield, instantly lightening the load for the rest of the Sages. All eyes flew to Zelda, whose eyes were locked onto Mortis and nowhere near the Fierce Deity. An unnoticed tear trickled down her cheek as she stuck her jaw out in determination.

_You will not fail us Link, I know you won't._

Impa glanced at the Princess from the corner of her eye, pouring the power of shadow from her body as the golden magic of the Triforce of Wisdom empowered their forcefield. Mortis looked slightly puzzled at this sudden onslaught, as if he had not been expecting such a force to come from her. 

"I find your friends irritatingly persistent ," he commented to the Fierce Deity.

"Worthy allies to be had, these mortals," he replied. "You should not have underestimated them. Nayru's chosen has a heart of gold, as indeed does my host."

_Thanks._

"You do know that your defeat is imminent," the Deity continued. "Even without Endeffera, you will not escape the justice that you so richly deserve. I will not allow her sacrifice to be in vain, nor will I let your callous execution of the little princess go unnoticed."

Mortis smiled.

"A princess? Well, it is nice to see that your beloved Nayru selected only the best for her precious little bastard to live in. It is of no matter who spawned the brat, the same outcome would have come of her had she been a peasant."

The force of the blue electricity that hit Mortis caused the ground to shudder violently beneath the Sages' feet. Nabooru was closest to the swordsman at the time, and was uncertain from whom the outraged explosion had come. Link would have been enraged at hearing someone referring to his daughter as a brat, but the twisted mask of rage worn by the Fierce Deity was one she had never seen before, nor did she want to see it again.

"Enough! We end this _now_!"

He moved like quicksilver, ducking past the black orbs thrown at him by the God as if they had been nothing. They each impacted the ground with mighty explosions, sending dry earth and dead grass flying in the air, forming small craters in the ground below. 

Such an obstruction did not concern the Fierce Deity.

With both hands on the hilt of his sword, he leapt into the air and slashed downwards across the chest of the God of Death with enough force to slice a mortal in half. There was a blinding flash of light.

The Fierce Deity lay in a crumpled heap at Mortis' feet, while the God stood unscathed above him, laughing uncontrollably.

Ruto screamed in horror at the sight as Saria, exhausted and having gone beyond her limit, sank to her knees in defeat.

"You mortals are too weak to truly stand a chance against me!" Mortis bellowed. "You never did, even with the help of that pitiful fool! For you, it is over!"

"It is not over until I say it is," the Fierce Deity groaned hoarsely, dragging himself to his feet. 

Zelda's eyes widened.

She couldn't feel Link's presence anymore.

******

He felt so tired.__

_Why? Why are you fighting? You can't win._

He knew that voice, but it couldn't have been... that voice didn't exist any more.__

"Because I have to. I can't let my body be taken over and I won't let him win."

_But why? You're going to die if you keep fighting. Don't fight anymore Daddy, please!_

And then she was there, dressed in her nightdress and staring at him, her eyes wide and blue and sparkling with life and tears of concern

"Orla?"

_Stay here with me Daddy. I don't want to be alone anymore._

She wept as she ran to him, and when he wrapped his arms around her she clung to him, burying her face against his chest as she hugged him. He drew warmth from her embrace and felt for the first time in days, truly at peace. Sighing contently, Link held his daughter tightly and closed his eyes.

"I won't leave you alone Orla, I won't desert you again."

******

"No..."

Zelda blinked back her tears, realising what had happened and what would have to happen because of it. Link was gone, that monster had taken over. 

"Drop the shield," she said quietly.

"What?" Ruto asked in disbelief.

"Do as she says," Rauru stated calmly. "She has reason to believe that we would be better not using our powers on something that has so little effect."

Zelda nodded. It didn't matter anymore, they had no control over the situation.

Link was gone.

The Fierce Deity drew himself up to his full height, staring straight into the eyes of his opponent. He wiped the blood from the corner of his mouth with the back of his hand.

"Damn you Mortis, it surprises me that with all your experience you still resort to dirty cheapshots like that."

Mortis laughed.

"Now this is what I expected from you. That mortal no longer has a say in what it is you do."

The Fierce Deity attacked again, only this time Mortis blocked the attack with a dark shield of magic that swirled around like some shadowy mist. Magic crackled off the forcefield in angry blue sparks, spiralling from the tip of the great green and aqua sword in the Fierce Deity's hands.

"You no good son of a bitch, I will _kill _you!"

Mortis laughed again at the warrior's oath before knocking him from his feet with a wave of his hand. The God's immense magical strength took the form of a wave of liquid shadow, swirling around the Fierce Deity's feet before coiling upwards around his neck. With an upward wave of his hand, Mortis lifted the helpless fighter from the ground and held him with a strangling noose around his neck. He began to gag and gasp for breath while Mortis brought his captive closer to him until their faces almost stood an inch apart.

"I hate to see you suffer in this way, after all we are family."

The captured Deity said nothing, merely allowing his glare to speak for him.

"I shall offer you one last chance, as I did the first time you chose to rise in arms against me. Join me, you know that it is the right side to stand on. With your power, we will have everything that we desire, _everything_. You could even wed your beloved, as you desired from the very beginning. Come now, I think that is reasonable. What do you say?"

His voice was soft and inviting, as was the gentle expression on his face.

That changed moments later when his prisoner spat vehemently in his eye. The expression of invite melted away to sheer unadulterated hatred.

"Always defiant, even to the end. That is of no matter to me now, I will enjoy crushing you like the worthless insect that you are. You stood more of a chance with that mortal's presence, at least with him you had the aid of the Triforce. Now, you are _nothing!_"

******

"What is he talking about?" Nabooru asked.

"Link is no longer the one in control," Rauru said sadly. "No one can contend with the will of the Gods."

"You _monster!" Zelda cried._

She growled at the back of her throat, her eyes narrowed in rage. She would not allow this to happen, she would not lose Link to anyone, be it Mortis or the Fierce Deity. Enough was enough.

"Zelda, what are you doing?" Impa asked in alarm.

"I'm doing what I should have done a long time ago," she replied.

The Fairy Bow hit the ground with a gentle tap.

"You disgust me," she hissed as she walked towards the two immortals.

Both men stared at her in surprise, not quite believing the situation they were faced with.

"Back away woman, my business does not concern you," Mortis said coldly.

"_Yes it concerns me, everything that you have done or are doing concerns me. That 'brat' you murdered was my daughter, my flesh and blood, and you killed her like she was nothing but a worthless doll. That's all that my baby was to you and all the other Gods, she was a doll that could be used to amend a situation that she had nothing to do with, nothing. And now you," she rounded on the Fierce Deity, "you are stealing my husband's body from him when he has done nothing but fight to try and stop an enemy that you were unable to defeat. He is __not some weak shell for you to inhabit, he is a wonderful man with friends and family who love him, and you _dare _to try and steal him away from them? Away from me?"_

Tears rolled down Zelda's cheeks as she drew closer to them, but her eyes blazed with anger and hatred.

"If you want to face someone of worth Mortis then you should face Link, because what he lacks in magical power he makes up for in heart. He is _ten times the man that either of you could ever hope to be."_

With that, she shocked every person there by firing a blinding orb of golden magic at both men, knocking the Fierce Deity from Mortis' grasp and sending the God of Death sprawling without dignity to the ground.

Zelda advanced towards the fallen Fierce Deity, her face emotionless as she knelt by his side.

"Link, please, fight him," she whispered, putting her hands on his shoulders. 

The blank eyes stared at her with an unreadable expression.

"Do not deny me of this opportunity to defeat him, Princess. You could not possibly understand how much this battle means to me."

"I know how much it means to Link," Zelda argued, "and I know how much it means to me. Besides, if this fight did mean that much to you, then you wouldn't be shutting him out. Mortis said it himself, you would be stronger fighting with him than without him. Please, bring him back."

The Fierce Deity was moved by the love in the woman's eyes, the determination to win on her face and the wisdom behind her words. It was then that he lowered his eyes.

"I cannot do that, I cannot reach him where he is."

Zelda touched his face.

"Then let me."

"You could not either, it would take a miracle to get to him."

She smiled gently.

"Miracle working happens to be one of my specialties. I know that I can reach him, I always could, even all those years ago when he slept in the Sacred Realm. He never knew, but I could sense him then, I could feel how he felt, because we're connected you see. We always have been. I _know_ I can bring him back, then you must fight with him in order to win."

The Fierce Deity could not challenge her gaze any longer.

"Alright, should you succeed in bringing him back then I will fight with him."

******

She was sleeping in his arms.

_Link..._

He sighed and held Orla tighter to him, stroking her hair and keeping a constant vigil on her. Nothing would hurt her again.

_Link come back with me._

He stirred slightly and looked up at a dazzling white form before him.

_Please Link, leave this place and come back to us. We need you._

"Orla needs me," he said stubbornly. "I won't leave her."

The white form began to take the form of Zelda, it was hazy at first but then became more and more definite.

"She's gone, we've got to let her go. She's not going to come back to us Link, she can't."

"But she's right here!" he cried.

He cast his eyes down to Orla's face, and recoiled in horror as the pale, lifeless visage stared up at him as it had done the night he had found her. 

The grieved cry that echoed in Zelda's ears delt a new injury to her already battered heart.

"I won't fight anymore Zelda, I won't!" Link cried. "What's the point? Orla's gone, I can't get her back-"

His words were broken by a resounding slap as Zelda's hand connected with his cheek. 

"I'm sorry," she whispered, "but I'm not going to let you give up."

She wrapped her arms around him and held him close.

"I won't let you. You're our last hope Link, without you we are going to lose. Mortis will beat us."

"You've got the Fierce Deity, he can fight. I'm tired of this losing battle," he murmured.

"But Link, even if he did win without you, what good would that do? Think of what you'd be leaving behind," she pleaded. "Hyrule, your friends, your family, did you even stop to think about us? Before you put on the mask you asked me not to let Amalia forget you. Don't let her forget you, don't leave her. And don't leave me, not now. I need you so much, now more than ever."

She'd been putting this off for long enough, she needed to tell him now or she may never get the chance to. Sighing, she took up his hands and placed them on her stomach.

"Our son will never know Orla, I don't want him to never know you." 

******

The Fierce Deity's eyes flew open at the same time as Zelda's, only this time they were different.

This time, they were dark blue, and burning the fire of determination.

"You little witch!" Mortis cried, drawing himself from the ground and glaring at Zelda. "I'll teach you to strike an immortal!"

He fired an enormous black orb at the pair, only to have it explode upon contact with a golden beam of light. The Fierce Deity lowered his right hand.

"Nobody threatens my wife and gets away with it," Link growled. "Now you're going to realise just how big a mistake it was to mess with my family, Mortis."

"Yes!" Darunia bellowed. "The Hero of Time is back with a vengence!"

The other Sages cheered with him, except Saria who sighed happily in Darunia's arms as the Goron Chief cradled the exhaused Kokiri.

Link smiled grimly as he stared down the God, his concentration breaking momentarily as the now reassuring voice filled his mind.

_I suppose now the tables have turned yet again._

"Damn straight. Now let me show you what I can do."

The Triforce burned white hot on the back of Link's hand as he charged at Mortis, ducking to the right at the last moment and bringing the enormous sword crashing down against the god's back. Mortis spun around to hit him, but as he did Link felt his body move of its own accord out of the way, blasting a bolt of blue lightning as it did.

_Not bad at all, hope you didn't mind me helping you out._

Link grinned.

"Not at all."

Mortis grinned darkly at his opponent. 

"I hate to disillusion you gentlemen, but this battle has only just begun."

He began to charge an enormous ball of black energy up to his fingertips. Link flinched.

"That is not something I like the look of."

_We can handle it, trust me._

"That's just it, I don't."

Zelda shrank back from the power source, her eyes wide with fright. She could counter that blast with magic of her own, but it would take a lot out of her, more than she could afford to give. 

"Zel, can you stop that?"

She shook her head.

"I don't know, I could try but it's-"

"I won't let you put yourself in any danger," Link argued. "I'll just have to finish this myself."

With that, he flew at the intruding god like a streak of blue lightning.

_Something here isn't right._

Zelda made to call out to him the moment the God of Death hit him in the stomach with a balled fist. No-one had seen him move, and Link stood doubled over with the air forced out of his lungs as Mortis struck a second blow with his elbow between his shoulders. 

"You made a mistake in becoming allied with him, because while you have become stronger you have also become mortal."

Laughing, Mortis grabbed Link's head by the hair and pulled hard. The Fierce Deity Mask flew from his face with a bright flash of light and landed by Zelda's feet. 

"And you," Mortis taunted, pulling Link's hair in order to have the Hylian face him, "you should have stayed where you were. Nothing can save you from your fate now."

He threw Link's battered form towards his wife, where he landed with a thud, coughing blood.

Zelda gasped and held him, summoning her healing abilities.

"It is too late for that now, woman. You would be better using what skill you have to defend this."

The magic that Zelda had thought was for Link remained in Mortis' hand, primed and ready to wipe them out. 

"Zel, I'm sorry," Link whispered, squeezing her hand softly.

She looked down at him sadly.

"You were wonderful, I am so proud of you."

She stood proudly and raised her hands, glaring challengingly at Mortis and his orb.

"Try me."

With that invitation, Mortis hurled the energy towards her. As it gathered speed, it became larger and larger, more and more powerful until finally it seemed it would grow no larger. It exploded mid air and showered a hailstorm of small, deadly globes of power.

Everything flashed white as an immensely powerful shield of magic flashed up from nowhere, shattering Mortis' power as though it had been nothing. At first, Link believed that it had com from Zelda and the Sages, but as renewed conciousness slowly began to form in his battered frame and his vision became less blurred, he was presented with a sight he had never imagined that he would see.

Standing with her hands raised above her head in the middle of the field, was Orla.

_to be continued..._

To quote all bad TV melodramas: dum dum duuuuum! RnR folks!


	13. Endeffera's Power

Disclaimer: Legend of Zelda is Shigsy's. I am not Shigsy. So it isn't mine. Go figure.

A.N: Slow in coming, and for that I apologise. I've been cast into exam hell again- Damn you Blair!- but I thought that I'd stick this up because it's been going on too long. I'm still not entirely happy with this chapter, but hopefully the next two will make up for the crappiness of this one. Damn, it's so much easier to write  sword battles than magic battles! (That's why I'm *contemplating* a Wind Waker fic. Don't you just love the parry moves? And the final battle- beautifully executed. Nice to see Zelda getting a more active role for a change.)

A moan: I'm going to criticise Wind Waker. For those who haven't played/completed, skip ahead...now.

 Don't get me wrong, I loved every second that I played on it and it got to the extent that _six hours passed without me noticing it until my brother started moaning. But this is the moan- What was Ganon trying to do that was so evil, apart from the near killing of Zelda and Link? I mean, so what if he was trying to revive Hyrule? I wish he had! Did anyone notice how beautiful the land looked under the sea? It was gorgeous, and it looked so big! Why oh why couldn't Hyrule have been revived? I miss my Hyrule. _

OK, on with the much delayed chapter 13.

Chapter 13: Endeffera's Power

The small, female child stood staring at the immortal with her teal cloak billowing in the wind. Long white skirts fanned against the breeze at her feet, trimmed with sparkling gold binding. Mortis found himself staring aghast at the girl, fixated on her furious blue eyes.

"What is this? Who are you?" he demanded.

"Endeffera."

Zelda stared in shock at the sight of her daughter, her face completely colourless. Orla's voice sounded different, as though two people were speaking through the same mouth. And that power- never in her life had Zelda felt such an extreme magical aura eminating from one being.

"You lie girl. I would know if you were that child, and you are undoubtedly not her."

The laughter of the girl was hauntingly melodic.

"Uncle, you surprise me," Endeffera laughed, her voice alone ringing through the stillness of the night. "You of all people knew of what my mother decreed after my death, the daughter of the Hero of Time and the Princess of Destiny and I have been one for seven years. Now my power has awakened, and you shall taste defeat once more."

She glided towards the god on feet as silent as a ghost's, forcing the invader to back down in alarm.

"I destroyed you last time, I see not why this occasion should be any different," she said quietly, stretching her hands outwards.

Link struggled to get to his feet, but was too battered and exhausted to rise. 

"Orla?" he whispered.

Zelda clung to him, wrapping her own arms around him as tightly as she could. The demi goddess caught the movement from the corner of her eye and intensified her glare in Mortis' direction.

"How dare you harm mortals in such a way?" snarled the voice of Orla. "How dare you harm my father?"

She raised her hands and allowed a white haze to form over them before they burned bright white with the glow of a circular orb of holy magic. Mortis watched the energy growing with eyes slightly wider than the Sages had seen before.

"They are mortal Endeffera, they are of no consequence to the likes of us. I know that those your mother chose to birth you are stronger than others, yet look at them! They are weak and pathetic fools. You should join with me, as I offered your foolish father the option to do. Think what we could accomplish child, think!"

"Silence!" Again, the voices of two children spoke with one tongue, angry and terrible yet melodious and bright. "You plead when you fear you are defeated, but we are not to be swayed by your feeble words of desperation. We would never ally ourself with you, it would demean our very being to do so. This will end _now."_

"One way or another it will," Mortis replied. "I will erase all trace of you this time around, you will not be coming back again."

Both immortals let the magic fly at one another at the same moment and met at stalemate. Endeffera ground her teeth.

"We will not be defeated, not here and not by you," she spat, forcing more magic from her body. "You are the one who will not be coming back."

The God of Death laughed coldly.

"Confidence will get you nowhere, your mother should have told you that."

She narrowed her eyes in anger.

"Which one?" she challenged, doubling her efforts. 

_This is going just the way he planned it, _she thought angrily, _he is making me angry on purpose so that I will use too much too soon. I will not give him the satisfaction of seeing me destroy myself._

The darkness of the night had been obliterated by the surreal brightness of the two powers' magic, shining with the brightness of two moons. The landscape was illuminated with grotesque patches of the abnormal light, frighteningly vivid in their brilliance. Mortis' white face shone in the glow of Endeffera's magic, gleaming like a skull.

"You are tiring Endeffera, just as you were before and you will again. Do you not comprehend? This will always be the case girl, you are doomed to die succeeding, but it will _never_ be enough to truly defeat me.You know that, so why bother?"

"I bother because I must," Endeffera replied. "Orla's sacrifice will never be repeated. One way or another this circle will break."

And her efforts doubled again.

******

"I've got to help her."

Zelda watched helplessly, unaware that she had even spoken as Link leant against her. He squeezed her hand in support and with her help rose to his feet. Rauru looked at the pair sympathetically and shook his head.

"It would be useless to even try."

"You can't tell us that, she's our daughter for Nayru's sake!" Zelda argued

"I say we fight with her," Nabooru argued, receiving nods from Darunia and Impa.

"Are you nuts?" Ruto spluttered. "Hello, God versus a Zora, a Gerudo, a Goron, a Sheikah, a Kokiri and a bloated old Hylian-"

Rauru frowned.

"That's a little one sided don't you think?" Ruto finished.

"Who cares? Orla can't fight him alone and win," Nabooru snapped.

"But it isn't Orla," a small voice said quietly.

All eyes turned to Saria, who lay quietly in Darunia's arms.

"What are you talking about?" Ruto demanded. "The girl looks exactly like her. Do you know why? Because it _is _Orla."

"No it isn't," the Kokiri said softly. "She is Endeffera, and she is Orla, but it is Endeffera who is fighting Mortis."

"She is right," Rauru commented. "This fight is far and beyond the reaches of mortal ability. It seems as though the spirit of Endeffera is not quite willing to let go even though Orla is-"

"Don't say it," Link snapped. "No matter what you say she may be that is my daughter and I will not watch her die twice."

"We would be no use to her. Our powers are insignificant compared to Mortis, you know that."

"No," Zelda bit back, "don't give me that. You six represent the elemental power of Hyrule, the world damn it! It is enough, it has to be enough."

"Princess please," Rauru continued, "I know this is difficult-"

"No you don't know!" Link growled. "Look at her Rauru, look at that little girl out there, my little girl. Zelda's little girl. None of you could possibly know how gut wrenchingly terrible this is for us, nor would you want to. Our daughter is fighting that bastard and you expect Zelda and I to let this fate rest on her shoulders alone?"

Rauru was silent.

"Well I for one am not letting her fight him alone, she has my power to defeat him," Nabooru said quietly. "This is for Orla, and for Navali too." 

"I would give anything to see her defeat him, even my life," Impa added.

"What's the good of being a spectator in a fight of this calibur?" Darunia asked. "The power of fire will be at her mercy."

Ruto sighed.

"You're all nuts, but I guess I'm in anyway."

"Me too," Saria said quietly.

Rauru turned to Zelda, who was gripping Link's arm with white knuckles.

"As our leader, is this your wish Your Highness?"

Zelda nodded.

"Anything, so long as we can stop him."

Rauru nodded grimly.

"Then so be it. Six Sages-"

The others raised their hands above their heads, magic radiating from each fingertip and glowing strongly in spite of the lack of power. 

"-Now is the time for us to combine our powers as one to aid in this evil one's defeat."

******

Endeffera knew of the building energy long before Mortis did, she knew what was coming to her aid and never had she been so grateful for the impending assistance.

Even in death, the bond between a mother and her child was unbreakable.

She glanced over her shoulder at the grouped Sages as she felt the first twinge, cautious that Mortis should not see her actions.

"I find it hard to grasp just how futile your struggle for this is," she taunted. "You appear to be filling the criteria for every stereotypical villain ever created."

Mortis shook his head with the same self satisfied smirk on his face.

"Petty name calling is a fairly immature approach for a grown up girl like you."

Endeffera's pale pink lips quirked upwards in an ironic smile.

"I am not the one going through a destructive phase, although that is a fact I am soon to remedy."

The god finally realised the cryptic nature of the child's words two seconds too late. Those two seconds allowed thick vines to twirl around his ankles from the ground, a temporary restraint that rendered the irate deity immobile.

"What games are these?" he demanded through clenched teeth.

His eyes caught a flash of green light from the direction of the Kokiri Sage of the Forest, causing him to narrow his eyes in cold fury.

"My kind of game, dear uncle. It would appear that I am not alone this time."

_No, no you're not. You never have been._

Endeffera sighed inwardly at the reassurance offered to her mind through Princess Zelda's telepathic bond with her daughter. Even now she could see from the corner of her eye the woman standing with her Sages, her husband by her side. And she was thankful for her support.

Wordlessly, she levelled her gaze at the stricken figure of the god before her and raised her hands.

"It will be over this time."

The warmth of the Sages' powers flowed through her veins and steadied her slightly wavering reserve as she closed her eyes and took a deep breath. She _would end it, she _could _end it. No one would have to suffer what she and Orla had suffered again._

Her eyes flew open as she expelled the newly enhanced magic in Mortis' direction, being rewarded with a harsh cry from the god as the energy hit him full on. Her breath caught at the back of her throat in anxiety.

It wasn't enough.

"Help me mother," she whispered. 

_Mama, Daddy, help._

Both Zelda and Link stared at each other as their daughter's silent plea echoed in their minds. The Triforce parts glowed on the backs of their hands in correspondance to their will and wordlessly the pair joined hands, Zelda's right hand extended palm outwards with Link's left clasping it from behind. 

"The power of the Triforces of Courage and Wisdom are yours Endeffera," Zelda called, willing the golden power of the Triforce of Wisdom to pour from her fingertips, its strength and glow enhanced by the added presence of its triplet.

With the added power of the sacred relic, Endeffera's magical power soared beyond comprehension, lighting the whole area and miles around it with its sacred aura. 

Suddenly, everything went black.

"This is the end," Rauru murmured in the darkness.

Endeffera stood with her eyes closed, her head cast back and her palms upturned to the sky. She took a deep, shuddering breath...

"No!"

Mortis' scream of despair echoed in the silence as all around were blinded by the flash of pure light that exploded from Endeffera's hands. Darunia scrunched his eyes tightly shut as he sheilded Saria from the blast with his bulk whilst Rauru and Impa flung themselves to the ground. Nabooru threw her arm before her eyes, trying to block the rays as Ruto buried her face in her hands. Zelda felt herself stumble against the shaking earth until a pair of strong arms caught her around her waist and pulled her into their embrace. She hid her face in Link's tunic as he in turn drew his cloak around his wife's body and over his eyes.

As Mortis' scream died so too did the blinding light, and as the vision of Hyrule's protectors returned the sight of Endeffera standing as steady as a rock greeted them, her teal cloak billowing in the breeze as it had done at her arrival, only this time there was no Mortis standing before her. Zelda stared long and hard at the girl as Link's fingers curled around hers, scarcely daring to believe their victory.

"Is it finished now?" 

Endeffera smiled to herself as she caught Saria's whispered enquiry.

"It is finished. Light outshines the Darkness, Life triumphs over Death."

Finally, the prophecy had been fulfilled.

But one question still remained unanswered, one important factor that had yet to be determined.

Orla's life.

_to be continued..._


	14. Divine Intervention

Disclaimer: We've been through all this. I still don't own them.

A.N: The gods are out in abundance. Five make an appearence in this chapter (three full, two demi), making the grand total of divinities in this a pretty cool six in one fic, which I think has to be some kind of record in the world of Zelda fiction. Oh well. There will be notes at the end of the chapter regarding aspects of my portrayal of the gods- the whys and where I got my inspiration from etc. Other than that, be prepared for an onslaught of philosophy and stuff, although I haven't quite got round to the explanation of the meaning of life... ask Monty Python.

Oh, and here is a promise. This story will be finished before I'm seventeen - which means before ten past two on Friday for those of you that are interested!

Chapter 14: Divine Intervention

For a while no one spoke, no one dared to. The lunar eclipse had subsided and the welcome return of the moon led to the now reassuring glow of moonlight illuminating the battlefield and the weary bodies of the Sages. Endeffera, Zelda and Link stood a small distance apart from the group, staring at each other.

"I believe," Rauru suggested, "we should leave them now."

Heads nodded in agreement at the elderly Sage's words and they departed to the Sacred Realm as silently as the night.

"So what now?" Link sighed.

Zelda could not take her eyes from Endeffera.

"Are you- does Orla..?"

The demi-goddess lowered her eyes and with a gentle movement the child's body slumped to the ground as peaceful as sleep. Zelda gasped softly as two translucent forms stood before them, both dressed in the same way. One she knew well and loved, the second was familiar to her as she had seen the girl with the pale skin, knee length dark blue hair and rich brown eyes in her dreams before the nightmare had begun.

Endeffera and Orla.

"Princess Zelda, Link, there are many questions you seek to ask me," Endeffera said. "Yet there are some I could not begin to answer, no matter how much I wish to."

Link could not take his eyes from Orla's spirit. It was immobile, staring into the distance with pale eyes.

"Why doesn't Orla look at us?" he whispered.

Dawn began to break in the distance as the golden light of the sun's rays began to paint the skies. Zelda frowned.

_It's too early for dawn..._

Endeffera caught the Princess' anxiety and then opened her mouth in surprise.

"My mother!"

Link turned to be greeted by the sight of a woman glowing with a golden aura, her keen blue eyes gleaming in the light as much as her sapphire blue gown. Her hair shone like highly polished gold behind a dazzling silver and sapphire crown that was topped by an immense diamond, and pooled at her feet like a cloak of golden silk. On her shoulder there perched the small silver owl, Lore, who regarded both mortals with enormous yellow eyes. Her face beamed with a youthful radiance and beauty with the wisdom of the ages showing through in her smile and bearing.

"Holy Nayru-" Link breathed.

Zelda dropped to her knees in awe of her patron goddess, feeling herself to be insignificant to the glory of the impossibly beautiful Goddess of Wisdom.

Endeffera's face was alive with delight and surprise as she ran to Nayru on her silent feet, stretching out her arms to be embraced until she stopped suddenly, remembering her state. Nayru's heart looked set to break at being so close to her beloved child but unable to touch her, as in death Endeffera was as unreachable to her as Orla was to her parents.

"Most high Nayru, I beg of thee- grant that our daughter Orla be returned to life and to us," Zelda pleaded.

For the first time Nayru's eyes met with her favourite, unwavering in their beauty and serenity but also filled with sadness.

"Zelda my child, of all of the mortals in this world my favour and love is bound to you most of all. Yet in spite of this I cannot do as you ask of me. The dead must remain so, else what point would there be to life? It is a cruel law, and one I myself resent most bitterly though I too must obey it. I share your pain, as for centuries I have been cursed to mourn my daughter's death only to wait and watch my grief bestow itself upon you with the death of your child. If I could change the law of the gods then I would, but what you ask of me is impossible."

Zelda hung her head and blinked back her tears as Link's hand found hers.

"Then she really has gone."

"I don't understand," Link argued. "If Mortis is defeated, if he himself is dead then surely that means there is no death any more. Your laws have been thrown out of balance. If he's dead-"

"Mother," Endeffera argued, "please spare Orla. She is innocent of all that she has been punished for. She deserves to be given her life for all of the needless suffering that has befallen her."

"Dear heart," Nayru soothed, "I would grant you any desire that I could but this is one that I cannot-"

The goddess fell silent as a strange tapping sound hit her ears and all eyes turned to the previously ignored Fierce Deity mask that lay discarded behind them. It began to glow white before strange ethereal blue flames licked at the wood and then burst into the sky in a pillar of blue fire. A figure began to appear in the blaze and as the fire subsided Link's hand instinctively flew to the Master Sword that rested in his scabbard.

The Fierce Deity stood before them all, greater and more magnificent that Link had ever seen him.

"Finally it has ended," the deity commented before his eyes found Nayru and Endeffera and widened considerably. "You- you are here? How?"

"It cannot be..." Nayru breathed.

"Father?" Endeffera inquired softly.

Tears filled the Fierce Deity's eyes as he ran to his daughter and finally fell as he was unable to take her into his arms and embrace her as he longed to do.

"What trickery is this? Why can I not hold you?" he demanded angrily. "You are here before me, why can I not hold you?!"

"He's Valour?" Zelda whispered, somewhat guiltily at interrupting the moment.

Nayru stared at the father of her child in amazement.

"You reveal yourself now? Now that I believe all of this hardship is over you torment me by appearing here? How can this be?"

Valour turned from the spirit of his child to her mother, his face filled with love, which caused Link considerable surprise. He'd never pictured the Fierce Deity as anything other than fierce.

"The curse that I brought upon myself is broken, my exile is done. Mortis is gone, as is my need to fight him for vengeance." 

He found himself facing the two mortals, who stared at him with open surprise.

"Hero of Time, I can only apologise to you for the way in which I have acted toward you in the past."

Link was about to cut an angry retort when Zelda gripped his hand forcefully to remind him of his place.

"I needed your power to gain the strength which was needed to face Mortis. Alas, that strength was not enough for us to defeat him, yet I had underestimated the strength bestowed upon you by my mother's Triforce. For my interference I am truly sorry."

An apology from a god, that's not something you get every day.

Zelda frowned at Link's comment.

_Idiot, Lady Nayru can hear all thoughts._

Link swallowed hard and glanced sheepishly at Nayru, who offered him a knowing smile.

"He is much like his mother, I can understand why you show such delight in receiving an apology from him. I have yet to accept such an honour."

Endeffera giggled whilst Valour looked confused before his expression shifted.

"These two should have their child returned to them," he said suddenly, gesturing at Zelda and Link who stared at him in disbelief. "That corrupt fool is no longer a threat to anything anymore, therefore the prophecy should not have to be repeated."

"I will not repeat myself from henceforth," Nayru said in a terse tone, "I have not the power to grant that. It is not within my jurisdiction. The only one who has the right to grant what you ask is the Great Father, seeing as Mortis is no longer."

"What I don't understand," Zelda began, "is how the order of life and death will be affected by the loss of Mortis. Without a god in charge of it, there can't be death."

Link nodded to strengthen Zelda's point, even though he was in truth more confused by this talk of the non-existence of death than he had been when his father in law had attempted to enlighten him on the different matters of government amongst the various races.

"It is a problem, Nayru," Valour commented. "A problem indeed."

Nayru paused for a moment, her thoughts causing her to frown. Lore ruffled his feathers and blinked his immense yellow eyes, seeming to think as intently as his mistress before his attention turned to a spot in the distance. He hooted softly, catching Nayru's attention, whose gaze followed his.

"My sisters draw near, perhaps they can aid in this judgement I must deliver."

The same golden aura that had accompanied Nayru flooded the plain where the group were assembled, also bearing golden visitors in its midst. Din and Farore appeared beside their sister, both robed in their respective colours and crowned by silver, ruby and emerald with the same diamonds crowning their ornamentation. The similarity of their features was astounding, the only physical difference between each being the colour of their eyes. 

Farore was the first of the pair to move as her eyes fell upon Valour.

"My son!"

In what Din regarded to be a very ungodly move, the Goddess of Wisdom moved to embrace her son openly and in the view of mortals. She rolled her eyes in disgust whilst her other sister shook her head. Unlike Nayru and Farore, Din remained childless, unwilling to share her power or glory with any, be they male or female, mortal or other.

In the mean time, Link was growing impatient. It had all been very well entertaining the spirit of Endeffera when he was still exhausted and battered from the battle, but it was getting beyond a joke now, plus he was beginning to feel slightly uncomfortable in the presence of these obviously superior beings. Zelda sighed beside him, looking tired and fraught with nerves and fatigue, which instantly caused Link concern. He reached across to take her hand and squeezed it lightly in reassurance. She smiled in response and turned her attention back to the three divine sisters, meeting the eye of Nayru as she did. The Goddess nodded to her, aware of her thoughts, and turned to her sisters.

"I greet you my sisters and ask you what brings you to this plain?"

Din regarded her fondly.

"Little sister, we bring tidings from our father with regards to the situation which we are now faced."

Farore rolled her eyes now, resentful of the eldest sister's condescending manner. 

"As has already been established, we appear to be a god short, a blessing though it may be," she remarked.

Valour caught Link's eye, a gleam of amusement now shining in his own. Link looked again, alarmed to see that the eyes of the Fierce Deity were now the same rich brown as Endeffera's. He was even more alarmed to see his former fear actually _wink at him._

"One of the minor gods will be getting a promotion then," Link joked.

"You regard this as folly, mortal?" Din sneered.

"I warn you sister, my champion-" Farore warned.

"Link," Zelda hissed.

"I apologise, I was only trying to relieve some of the tension from this situation," he responded quickly.

Nayru and Farore smiled while Endeffera, who had been silent since the arrival of her aunts was looking pensive.

"It is not as simple as 'promoting a minor god,'" Din continued, "someone must be willing to fully undertake the responsibility of ending everything for everyone and must not be corrupted by desire for a more attractive position."

"I hardly think that our father will be treating the new God of Death with such negligence as to inspire the same emotions of loathing that our brother held," Farore argued. "Although I do agree with you in the wisdom of our choice, which is why ultimately the decision must rest with Nayru."

Nayru did not look in the slightest bit perturbed by this information. 

"This will not be an easy decision to make," she murmured. "Death is not a responsibility that I would choose to hold, nor do I know of any of our fellows who would welcome it willingly."

"Death is not as harsh as you make it out to be, it is not so much an end as it is a new beginning to a different sort of life, a life of non-existence. It would not be so terrible to oversee the passage of souls between the life of the living and the dead."

The eyes of the three goddesses flew to Endeffera, who stood beside Orla's spirit over the small princess' lifeless body. She held their gaze unflinchingly, only holding out her hand to hold Orla's.

"Are you saying that _you would undertake such a task were it offered to you?" Din asked sceptically._

Endeffera nodded earnestly.

"I would."

Zelda gripped Link's hand tighter.

"The dead in command of the dead," Farore said softly. "It is a novel idea, I must say."

"Only she would not be dead," Valour whispered. "She would be restored. Mortis' power would be bestowed upon her, bringing her to life again."

Nayru's eyes were brimming with unshed tears of happiness.

"You would be happy with such a role my child? To be the Queen of the Dead for all eternity?"

There was silence as the child regarded her family, the two mortals and finally Orla's body.

She nodded.

"I would not hesitate in undertaking such a position."

A beam of light shot from the clouds, bathing Endeffera's form in its radiance. Zelda and Link stared in awe as it subsided, revealing the solid form of Endeffera, garbed in robes of deep purple and black. This time, there was no hesitation from Valour, who flung himself at his daughter and held her without any restraint, kissing her all over her face. The new goddess wept in her father's embrace as Nayru forgot all her previous restrictions and went to her small family, finally reunited with those she loved for the first time in a thousand years.

Zelda couldn't bear to watch as the knife of grief and jealousy twist in her breast. How she wished that it were she and Link embracing Orla! She choked back her tears as silently as she could muster, but not quiet enough for Link not to notice. He took her in his arms and held her gently.

"At least we know she's in good hands."

Endeffera caught Link's words and smiled to herself.

******

_It is time for you to leave._

She looked around her in confusion as a soft voice spoke through the silence.

"I don't understand."

_You do not have to stay here, you can go back, if you want to. Back to breathe again, back to live. Back to return here when the time is right._

"I can go back?"

_Yes. You can go back to where you belong, where everything will be as it was. You can grow old, have children and watch them prosper. You will see your world live its golden age under its greatest ruler. But you will live, and live you must, for your importance cannot be underestimated. You are the future. _

Endeffera appeared, robed in purple and smiling.

"I am living again Orla, and so must you."

In a moment of joy and fear, the little princess ran and hugged the Goddess, who returned the embrace.

"How will I manage without you? You're a part of me-"

"I will always be with you Orla, there's always going to be a part of me here." 

She pressed a delicate hand against Orla's heart before pressing lifting the girl's hand to her chest.

"And you will be right here with me forever."__

She kissed Orla's brow and then smiled brightly.

"I want you to know that I am gratefulfor everything that you have suffered for me, and in return I will keep you safe until it is your time."

Orla watched in surprise as she produced a small ring made of white gold, inscribed on the underside with ancient runes that glowed purple. 

"As long as this ring is in your possession, you are under my protection."

Orla smiled as she slipped the ring onto the ring finger of her right hand.

"Thank you."__

She closed her eyes as warmth filled her body and she began to float upwards. To where she did not know, but her last thought before she got there was how much she longed to be there.

******

Link opened his eyes sleepily and sat up suddenly in surprise. He didn't remember falling asleep, and to find himself lying in the middle of a field with Zelda curled up beside him was somewhat of a shock. He looked around him, alarmed to find the gods gone and the sun already rising in the east as dawn began to wake the earth. He was also pleasantly surprised to find that all of the weariness and aches from the wounds obtained in the battle had vanished without a trace. Zelda murmured and stirred beside him, looking just as confused as he did.

"What's going on? Where is everybody?" she asked sleepily.

He kissed her gently on the top of her head.

"I don't know, there's no sign of-"

A barely audible murmur behind him caught him off guard. Rising quickly to his feet, he drew the Master Sword from its scabbard and turned to face whatever it was that was waiting for him. Zelda too was on her feet, summoning magic to face whatever it was.

Orla's body lay on the ground behind them, devoid of the goddess' clothing and totally nude.

Link sighed in disappointment and sheathed the blade before stooping before the child's body, taking her gently into his arms and staring at her face.

"It seems that we helped everyone last night except ourselves," Zelda said sadly.

Link stared at Orla's face, puzzled by how her colour now seemed more healthy than when he'd last seen her, but then again the light of the early morning sun was always rosy-

Orla sighed.

Zelda let out a gasp of delight and ran to them, kneeling beside Link and pressed her fingers against her daughter's neck. She almost fainted when she felt the gentle beat of her pulse beneath her fingertips, growing stronger by the moment.

"She's come back to us!" she cried.

Link blinked in disbelief before Orla proved her being by breathing deeply, opening her mouth to take a deep breath of the clear morning air.

"Thank you gods!" he cried, hugging Orla tightly before kissing Zelda exultantly.

All of the heartache and grief of the last few days evaporated in that kiss, the knowledge that Orla was alive and theirs again warming their hearts and erasing the anxiety that had established itself. Their embrace lasted for an instant as their daughter murmured before she began to stir, her eyelids fluttering as though she was coming out of a deep sleep. Moments later her eyes opened as she stared dazedly up at her parents.

"Mama, Daddy," she murmured.

"Yes darling, we're right here," Zelda soothed, clasping her hand. 

Tears shone in Orla's eyes as she began to cry.

"I didn't mean to kill Alanya, really I didn't. It was an accident."

"It's alright sweetheart, Alanya's alive. You didn't hurt her," Link said softly.

Orla smiled sleepily and yawned.

"I'm so tired," she whispered.

She snuggled closer to Link's tunic and closed her eyes. Zelda looked alarmed.

"She's alright, just sleeping," Link said softly as he transferred Orla temporarily to Zelda as he removed his cloak.

"She doesn't remember," she said quietly.

Link nodded as he draped his cloak over Orla's sleeping form and took her back into his arms.

"That's probably a good thing. Maybe she will one day, but for now let's just consider this a blessing."

Zelda continued to look puzzled.

"I wonder if it's just her."

Link shrugged before a grin spread across his face.

"Speaking of blessings..." he began.

Zelda smiled.

"I assume you're talking about the baby," she laughed, letting her hand rest across her abdomen. 

Now Link looked at it closely, there was an added roundness there.

"You assume right," he beamed. "How did that happen?"

His wife laughed and stood close to him.

"If I have to explain that to you now..." she teased.

"Don't tease me. You know I mean when. When is she making her appearance?" 

"So you don't trust my prediction?" Zelda huffed in good humour.

"It sounds too good to be true," Link laughed. "When can we expect the son and heir to grace us with his presence then?"

"In the autumn," she smiled, "I'm about two months along."

Link looked at her aghast.

"You mean we have to wait another _month until I can brag to Aidyn about being as virile as him?" he moaned._

Zelda laughed softly.

"It's only a month, you can last that long."

Link smiled at Zelda and then at Orla who was fast asleep in his arms.

"I don't think I'll ever rush things along, I'm going to make the most of everything, starting from now."

Zelda smiled back.

"You and me both, my love."

******

_seven months later_

The clock in the Temple of Time chimed three o'clock in the distance, its toll heard by virtually no one as most of the town lay sleeping. It was certainly the case with the majority of the Royal family. 

Unable to sleep, Link sat on the edge of Orla's bed where both of his daughters, now aged eight and almost three, lay cuddled up together as they slept with the almost full grown Fang lying across the end of the bed. He smiled contently to himself before biting back a yawn and returning to his bedroom.

At first he thought that Zelda was asleep as well, although the blankets had been cast back beneath her feet. He moved softly to the bed and smiled as Zelda shifted and mouthed a greeting to him.

"Are you alright?" he asked as she put a finger to her lips to silence him.

He tiptoed to his side of the bed and smiled at the sight of Zelda lying on her side with the tiny new baby, just two hours old, at her breast.

"He's just going off to sleep," she whispered. "The girl's didn't make it then?"

Link shook his head and gently eased himself onto the mattress beside her and watched his son's small body rise and fall with each breath. He gently brushed his hand over the fine layer of hair that crowned his head, smiling proudly.

"They were both fast asleep in Orla's room. Do we have to call him Harkinian?" he whispered.

Zelda smiled and shook her head.

"No, I like what you wanted."

Link grinned like a cat that had got the cream and gently lifted the newborn from the bed, pausing to allow Zelda to kiss his downy head.

"Goodnight baby boy."

Link smiled.

"Sleep well Izak Harkinian Ferras."

_to be continued_

******

The Gods: I've taken most of Nayru, Farore and Din from the Ancient Greek portrayal of the gods. As you've probably already noticed, giving Nayru an owl is a direct take on Athena/Athene/Minerva the goddess of wisdom and her owl. Also I didn't give the three goddesses blue/red/green hair like they always seem to do, because in Ocarina they are _golden _goddesses. I figured I'd keep them blonde. I made Endeffera's colour purple because purple is the Sheikah colour, and they seem to have a lot to do with death.

And Valour and the Fierce Deity being the same guy? That I didn't spring out of the blue, I've placed hints throughout the last half of the story. ^_^ I decided to change his eyes to brown when he became Valour again because I always figured that the creepy pupiless eyes lacked soul, and Valour's soul was returned to him when his banishment ended.

And if you think _that was the end of the story, then you might want to consider looking at the chapter bar..._


	15. Hryule Tournament Again

Disclaimer: anime animal was not given the Legend of Zelda for her birthday, I don't think Mr Miyamoto likes her enough to give it to her as a present. She did get that new laptop she's been banging on about for ages, and her own copy of Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix so she doesn't have to nick her friends' copies anymore!

A.N: So now the end is near, and so we face the final curtain! Last chapter of Endeffera, which really serves as more of a prologue for *drumroll* the sequel- Blood of the Hero! Stick around at the end for my traditional end of story banter.

OK, so I didn't get it out by ten past two, but at least it's only a few hours late as opposed to days.

Dedication: Of course, to everyone who's read it and stuck with it through updates and lack thereof. However, two special mentions go to thepiccolopixie and Bonnie, who had reviewed almost every chapter throughout not only this part of the saga but also the previous. Big huggles to them- this chapter's for you guys ^_^

Chapter 15: Hyrule Tournament - Again

_two years later_

I can't believe those stuck up, stupid-"

"Navali..." Orla warned, looking across at Amalia who was staring at the Gerudo girl with wide, innocent blue eyes and puzzled look on her face. "My parents would kill me if Ama started repeating stuff like what you are about to say."

Fang appeared to nod her head in agreement.

Navali rolled her eyes and flung her hands skywards.

"Those idiots won't let me register for the Tournament!"

"I told you," Theo said matter of factly.

Navali glowered at him.

"Well, guess it proves it after all," Theo chuckled. "Boys are better than girls."

"Not true!" his sister argued, shoving him in the stomach.

The small group of children were sitting behind the refreshment tent at the Tournament. The adult archery had been in action for a while, and none of them had really felt the urge to watch. The only one missing was Ranlink, who was practicing his archery. He had been practicing for seven weeks straight.

"What exactly," Orla asked slowly,"did they tell you?"

Navali had folded her arms across her chest in a sulk.

"Girls can't enter. They are physically weaker and tire easier."

"Did you say that you're a Gerudo?" Amalia asked.

Theo shot his cousin a withering look. Anyone could see that the blonde girl was of Gerudo origin.

"Gerudo are forbidden to enter due to their, and I quote, 'unpredictable and savage attitude, despite being possessed of all the skills required.' This is racism and sexism!" Navali cried angrily.

Orla frowned for a moment and then smiled.

"Theo, keep an eye on things for me."

Without waiting for an answer, she grabbed Navali's hand and whistled for Fang to follow her.

"Where are we going?"

"You'll see."

******

"You're totally crazy if you think this is gonna work."

Navali sat cross legged on a crate as she sharpened her miniature scimitar. The pair were taking refuge in one of the storage rooms in the courtyard so that no one would spy on their highly covert operation. Orla frowned at her and continued to pull a boy's tunic on over her head.

"Navali, have I ever done anything crazy in my entire life?"

Navali arched a blonde eyebrow and put down her blade. 

"Hmm, let me think. There was that time last summer and you persuaded me to take you to the Colossus even though it was mating season for the Leever, and then when you thought it would be fun to go and tease the Skull Kids about their ugliness and oh yeah, that time when..."

"OK, OK, so I'm not a genius, but haven't I always managed to get us out of trouble?"

"No Orla, your _dad _has always got us out of trouble."

Orla sighed and buckled a small brown belt around her waist.

"So, whaddya think?" she asked, putting her hands on her hips and letting her friend see her disguise. "Do I or do I not look like a boy?"

Navali jumped off the crate and walked around her friend, critically eyeing her disguise with a look of contemplation on her face.

"Well, clothes and stuff are fine but you've still got girl's hands and your hair is still too long."

Orla grinned and produced a familiar looking green hat which she placed on her head, conveniently hiding all her blonde tresses with the exception of the scruffy bangs that fell haphazardly in her midnight blue eyes.

"Now do I look like a boy?"

Navali began to giggle uncontrollably and then burst out laughing so loudly that her laughter filled the entire room. Orla frowned and folded her arms across her chest.

"What's so funny?"

Navali wiped the tears of laughter from her eyes and took a few deep breaths to compose herself.

"I can safely say that you look like the biggest dork I've ever seen in my life!"

Orla's lips set themselves in a thin line as she glowered murderously at the Gerudo.

"This was my dad's hat when he was a kid," she said crossly. 

"Yeah, but you still look like a dork," Navali commented, rubbing her knuckles against her pants. "And besides, surely everyone would work out who you were if you went wearing a Kokiri hat. Only one person has ever worn one of those hats and everyone knows that that person is your father so they'd automatically know who you were."

"So what do you think I should do then?" Orla asked, taking the hat off.

"Cut your hair."

"What, are you kidding?!" Orla squeaked, grabbing her blonde locks protectively. "Nuh uh, no way. Not doing. No."

Navali giggled again.

"I don't understand you some times Oz, really I don't. You wanna prove to everyone that you're just as good as any guy when it comes to fighting but you won't even make a small sacrifice to do it."

Orla frowned.

"I just like my hair. Is that a crime?"

Navali shrugged and hopped back on top of her crate.

"I guess not."

Orla put the hat to one side and instead tied a bright red scarf around her head, tucking as much of her hair into it as possible while keeping the scruffy blonde bangs on the outside.

"Hadn't you better get goin'?" Navali asked. "They close entries in five minutes."

Orla squeaked.

******

"I'd like to enter the Tournament please."

The official looked up from his desk and smiled at the boy in front of him.

"You're just in time, I was about to stop taking entries. I need your name and age please, son."

The boy's blue eyes twinkled merrily.

"I'm ten years old and my name's Orlando Sarref."

"Orlando... Sarref. OK, good luck."

Orlando walked away with a spring in his step until he walked past a tree.

"I cannot believe you just got away with that."

Navali was leaning against the trunk with Fang standing beside her, her tail wagging. Orla grinned and rubbed her knuckles against her shirt front.

"Me neither. Still, there's no going back now."

"Hey look, there's Ran," Navali smirked. "Let's try it out again."

Orla giggled and walked towards her cousin, adopting her best swagger and praying that he wouldn't recognise her. Or his shirt. Or his boots. 

"Mornin', " she said cheerfully.

"Hey," Ran responded, his features knitted into a frown of concentration. 

Suddenly he stopped and did a double take.

"Orla? What the-"

Navali clapped her hand over his mouth and dragged him behind the tree with them.

"Ssh, you'll give it away!" 

Ran frowned, not from concentration.

"What the hell are you doing wearing my clothes?"

Orla laughed.

"Making a statement to all the sexist pigs in the kingdom and standing up for women all over Hyrule!"

Ran looked perplexed.

"You're turning into a cross-dresser?"

Navali punched his arm.

"Ow!"

"No idiot, she's entering the Tournament."

Orla laughed and performed a mock bow.

"Meet Orlando Sarref, the winner of this year's Junior Tournament."

Ran took one look at her and burst out laughing. Fang cocked her head to one side with a puzzled expression on her face.

"You think," he spluttered, "that by tying your hair in a pony tail, hiding it under a bandana and wearing my clothes is going to get you to win the Tournament? They'll find you out in a moment!"

Orla frowned.

"No they won't," she said slowly, "'cause you're going to vouch for me."

"Oh no I'm not!" Ran protested. "I'm not going to break the rules. Besides, you'll only end up getting hurt and I'll get into troub-" 

"You won't help Orla get past the judges because you're scared she'll whup your butt."

Navali's comment was said plainly and matter-of-factly, but it had the effect of a match being placed next to a pile of dry brush.

"I am not!" 

"Prove it," Orla taunted, picking up on Navali's game immediately.

"Alright then," Ran snapped. "I'll get you past the judge. See you in the finals."

With that, he stormed off towards the registration tent. Orla giggled.

"Boys. Why are men so useless?"

Navali shook her head.

"_Boys_ are useless. Honey, it is only because there is a slight chance that boys may turn into _men _that I tolerate them."

******

Zelda snuggled up beside her husband in the box and squeezed his hand as the junior competitors paraded around the arena.

"Another six years and it'll be Izak out there," she smiled, stroking the two year old's head. 

Zak beamed up at his mother and stretched his hands out for some more candy.

"Yeah," Link replied. "And he'll wipe the floor with Theo."

Zelda recognised the competitive tone to her husband's voice.

"You can't stand the fact that Aidyn's beaten you in something, can you?" she teased. "Does it really matter that he's the first one to have a son in the tournament?"

King Harkinian laughed and touched his son in law's arm.

"This takes me back. Your father and I had a similar competition between ourselves when Zelda was on the way. We'd set up your first tournament years before you even knew what a sword was."

"Not true," Olaran argued. "He knew what a sword was, he just didn't know how to use one."

Link laughed.

"Nice to know I had your backing before you'd even seen me fight, Dad."

"Of course you had my backing. You're a Ferras, it's a sure bet."

"Disappointed that you never got to see that match?" Zelda asked.

Both Harkinian and Olaran shook their heads.

"This is a much better outcome."

Link shot Zelda a sideways glance and smiled.

"I'll say."

Zelda smiled too and kissed Izak's cheek.

_And who says we don't have matches of our own?_

Link's eyes widened momentarily before his smile matched his wife's.

_Of course, you always come first._

_Not true. It depends on the event._

_Either way, I'm not complaining._

_No, you never do._

_Nor do you. You do moan a lot though._

_Says the pot calling the kettle black._

Link laughed and got a puzzled look from his father.

"What's so funny?"

Zelda shifted uncomfortably in her seat.

"I was, er, thinking how interesting that kid's bandana was," he lied.

He gestured to a small boy wearing a red green bandana on top of his blonde hair. Suddenly he did a double take, as did Zelda.

_Is that Orla?_

******

Orla shifted nervously under the scrutinous stares of her peers, painfully aware that she was one of the smallest competitors. Ran stood beside her, breathing calmly as he surveyed their fellow competitors.

"Nervous?" he whispered to her.

"Hell no! You?" Orla replied, wishing that she wasn't.

"Nah," Ran replied with much the same thought in his head.

A lot of the competitors were already in their mid-teens, and Orla found her gaze inexplicably falling on a small group of some older boys talking boisterously amongst each other. She rolled her eyes distainfully as she recognised a trio of Gerudo girls leaning against the railing and flirting with them whilst shivering heavily in their winter cloaks.

"Gods they're pathetic," Ran muttered as he noticed Alanya's group. 

Orla nodded and tried to focus on the task ahead of her, which was difficult seeing as everytime she looked across at the Royal box her father seemed to laugh, and her mother seemed to smile directly at her.

_Did they know?_

If it was that easy for them to recognise her then surely her grandfather would too, and as he was the senior judge of the event it wasn't exactly convenient.

"How's your archery?" she whispered.

"Not too shabby," Ran replied. "How's yours?"

She shrugged.

"Hopefully good enough."

The parade over, the participants trekked inside to the tent whilst the archery targets were being set up. Ranny chose that interval to manipulate his popularity to Orla's advantage.

"Hey guys, this is Orlando, my third cousin once removed on my dad's side."

Choruses of 'hellos' were raised while Orla cheerfully returned them, striking lively conversation and creating an instant rapport among them. 

However, of all the competitors there was one who remained detatched from the friendly banter and camaraderie. He was wiry and quite tall, dressed in a charcoal coloured shirt and tan breeches that seemed moulded to him. His hair was deep, dark brown and long and would have fallen in his eyes had it not been for a black headband tied around his brow. Orla watched him quietly from the corner of her eye, slightly apprehensively.

_What was it about him..._

As if the boy had read her thoughts, he turned to stare at her icily through his dark grey eyes. Their eyes met and she found herself unable to hold his gaze for long. It was cold, too cold. She looked away quickly.

Ran looked at her quizzically.

"What's up?"

She turned her attention back to him, smiling confidently.

"Oh nothin'. Who's that guy over there?"

Ranny looked over her shoulder and shrugged.

"Dunno, not seen him before."

One of the Tournament officials blew a whistle, silencing all competitors instantly.

"Five minutes boys, archery begins in five minutes!"

******

Link stood beside his brother, waiting for the first competitors to step up for the duels. Secretly, he was bursting with pride at the thought that Orla would be fighting in the tournament this year. Zelda had been startled and alarmed at first, demanding that someone say something until Link had said one word that silenced her immediately.

"Sheik."

She hadn't said anything else after that, but had sulkily turned her attention to Izak.

"So do you know much about this Galahad kid then?" Link asked Aidyn.

Aidyn shook his head.

"No, nor does anyone else. It's as if he appeared out of nowhere."

The archery had been of particular interest to Link, who'd watched keenly as Orla clocked a respectable four hundred and seventy points while Ran had got four eighty. Aidyn had been beaming as his son held onto the lead until the final competitor.

Galahad.

He and he alone held a perfect score.

And, much to Aidyn's dismay, this elder boy had drawn to fight Ran in the first round of the duels. Orla had been matched against a powerful looking teen named Burl, though Link had no worries about how his daughter would fare. She was good, even if he did say so himself, although he was concerned as to how she'd fare against an older and stronger boy when she was used to facing Navali, Ran and himself, although the pair of them were well aware that he wasn't even close to trying when they sparred.

"There he is, good luck Ran!" Aidyn cheered enthusiastically.

Ran's determination never wavered as he walked out beside the taller boy, although his cheeks coloured on his father's enthusiastic greeting, which was echoed by the majority of the crowd.

"Go for it, knock 'im dead kid!" 

"Sock it to him tough guy!"

"Seems he's got himself quite a fan club," Olaran commented as he joined his sons at the railing to the arena. "There's quite a following for him among the other boys."

Link glanced over at the other competitors and was amused to see Orla leading the cheers.

"That's funny, I can't see Orla anywhere..." Olaran muttered to himself.

"What's that Dad?" Aidyn asked, not turning his attention away from Ran and his opponent.

"Well, the others are all over there but no Orla."

Link followed his father's gaze and pretended to look surprised as he spotted Amalia, his niece and nephew and Navali desperately trying to keep a grip on Fang, who was trying to break for the arena, presumably to look for Orla. He bit back a laugh.

"I wonder where she's got to?" he pondered, trying to keep the smile from his face.

"Fight!"

The announcer's call was barely heard over the deafening roar of the crowd as the boys flew at each other. Ran's face was grim with determination as he ran at his adversary with both hands on his sword. Their wooden swords met with a crack as they stood at stalemate until Galahad forced the younger boy back with a brutal shove.

"No! Ranlink, spread your weight evenly on both feet! BOTH FEET!" Aidyn bellowed, not that his son would have been able to hear over the racket the crowd was making.

Galahad appeared to say something to Ranlink that made the black haired boy furious. With a savage yell, he barrelled towards him, feinting to his right before spinning on his heel and attacking from the left.

"YES! NICE WORK!"

Olaran glanced across at Link.

"I think we're going to have to bring in some new rules for restraining parents..."

Link grinned.

"And I suppose you didn't act like this when he made his first appearence?"

"Of course not. I was judging."

Aidyn was beaming.

"I taught him that move. Little something I was cooking up for our rematch."

"And I still beat your ass."

"I had a cold!"

"Yeah yeah, save your excuses. I could take you any day of the week with my right hand and blindfolded."

"Children please," Olaran interrupted. "You might want to pay attention to the action inside the ring before making your own outside it."

Aidyn blinked and returned his focus to the match.

Something about the scenario didn't seem right to Link as he watched. The more he looked, the more apparent it was that Galahad wasn't trying at all, in fact he seemed almost bored. Granted Link himself had fought with that attitude on his first appearence at the Tournament, but he had good reason to. This boy however did not seem in the least bit concerned about Ranlink and was toying with him the way a cat did with a mouse before killing it. Just as that thought crossed Link's mind, Galahad snapped to attention almost and crouched low. As Ranlink made another charge, the older boy moved, darting across the space between them with his wooden sword raised. Before Ranny had a chance to realise what was happening, Galahad's sword smashed hard against his unprotected belly.

"WHAT THE FU-" Aidyn bellowed.

"Aidyn," Olaran snapped.

Ran doubled over, gasping for breath as Galahad moved in again, this time knocking the sword out of the younger boy's hands easily. The crowd booed and hissed violently as Galahad tucked his sword into his belt and marched out of the arena, not acknowledging anyone. Meanwhile, Ran appeared to be having trouble breathing and was attracting medical attention. Already his mother was on the scene, being part of the medical team. Aidyn leapt over the fence and was by his son's side in a matter of moments, along with the rest of the medical team. Link could hear the shrill tones of Catrine's furious reaction.

"That was an illegal blow Aidyn, you know as well as I do! Ran could have been seriously injured, that boy needs to be disqualified."

"Catrine-"

"No! I know the rules well enough, no blows are to be made to the torso or above the neck. I'm sure my biological knowledge is sound enough to know what classifies as torso and-"

"Mom please," Ran pleaded weakly, "don't kick up a fuss. I lost. If he gets disqualified and I advance then everyone's gonna think it's because of Dad and Grandpa. I lost."

Aidyn helped his son to his feet and patted his shoulder gently, proud of his maturity.

"He'll be warned. One more strike and he's out." 

The other officials nodded.

******

Orla stared in disbelief as Ran's sword flew from his grasp. The boys around her were in uproar.

"That dirty cheat!"

"Someone needs to sort him out!"

"He can't get away with that!"

Galahad was walking slowly towards the tent, his eyes straight ahead and focused. Everyone around Orla tensed, some of the smaller competitors stepping back as he approached.

But not Orla.

The princess strode to the front of the others and folded her arms, glaring angrily at the older boy.

"Well, that was impressive. How do you plan on beating your next opponent, tripping 'em up or maybe even stabbing in the back?"

There was an angry although slightly less enthusiastic murmur of agreement behind her.

"I don't have time for this," Galahad grumbled, stepping to her left.

Orla moved left too, barring his way.

"Yeah you do, 'cause if I'm not mistaken you're not fighting for another two matches and I'm not on until after this, so you are gonna listen to me."

Her hard blue eyes bore into his grey.

"And lemme tell you this, if you think you got away with what you just did to Ranlink Ferras then you are sorely mistaken."

Galahad's lips quirked into a sardonic smile.

"Really? And what are you gonna do about it, little boy?"

Orla resisted the urge to pout.

"I'm gonna take you down, that's what. Your ass is mine."

Galahad chuckled.

"Looking forward to it."

With that, he walked past her and into his corner. His father, or guardian at least, patted his shoulder and shot a dirty look at the rest of the tent's occupants. Orla returned it gladly, only turning her attention to other things when someone tapped her shoulder.

"Hunh?"

"Don't worry about him kid," her opponent Burl said cheerfully. "I don't think either of us'll be the one to put him out of action. General Olaran's coming, and he looks mighty mad."

Orla busied herself with tucking her pants into her boots as her grandfather walked past, her mind already concocting ways to beat Galahad without drawing the Kokiri sword and slicing him in two.

******

With a loud yell, Burl charged at Orla, considerably slower than he had been earlier. Orla smiled, her tactic working perfectly. Due to her small frame, she was able to flit around her opponent like some kind of butterfly, her wooden blade dancing as she struck the other's time and again, each time building more and more strength. Occasionally the blade would wobble as she succumbed to a particularly forceful attack, but nonetheless she was impressed by the way she was faring.

_Not bad for a girl, eh?_

She wished that her father knew what she was up to, he'd be proud to see that all of his training wasn't in vain. She glanced across at the Royal box to watch Link's reaction, only to be disappointed by not seeing him there. Sighing inwardly, she decided to up the ante as she attacked agressively, thrusting her wooden sword at Burl and knocking his blade so violently that she felt the vibrations through the wood of her own weapon. She smiled.

_Time to put this one to bed._

Adopting the crouch Navali had taught her earlier, Orla waited for an opening as Burl charged. Every muscle in her tensed as he drew closer until she leapt into the air and spun like a dervish, her sword extended. Burl looked stunned, particularly when the speed and force of her attack led to his sword flying through the air to the ground.

The crowd went wild.

Orla picked Burl's sword up from the ground and grinned.

"Good match huh?"

"Y-yeah," he stammered. "How'd you-?"

"Oh, that. My mother's good friends with a Gerudo. She taught me."

Burl blinked.

"Screw what I said earlier man, you've got that Galahad guy nailed with a move like that!"

Orla nodded grimly.

"I'd better."

******

Link watched Orla's fight with great interest, trying not to applaud as energetically as he wanted to when she won. A huge part of him was elated that she'd beaten Burl (not that he was surprised, she was _his daughter after all) but there was also a smaller part of him that was filled with dread._

Her next fight was against Galahad.

He walked slowly around the arena, ignoring the excited whispers at his presence and concentrating purely on his thoughts. 

_There was something about that boy..._

Zelda thought so too, she had caught his eye after Ranlink's match and had spoken telepathically to him.

_Whatever you do, make sure that you talk to Orla if she has to fight him. Something isn't right._

"Fang, come here! SIT!"

Link's attention snapped back to reality as he heard Navali's protest and grinned as he was struck by a stroke of genius. He whistled sharply.

Navali was desperately trying to control Orla's wolf, who had been trying to escape into the tent to find her mistress. Hearing Link's whistle certainly didn't help as she bounded forward out of Navali's grip and darted towards him, an irate Navali on her tail.

"You dumb wolf! Come here you- oh!"

Navali ground to a halt and blinked as she stared at Link.

"Um..."

Link cocked his head to one side and looked at her pseudo-quizzically.

"And Orla is where?" he asked.

"Um..."

Link laughed and scratched behind Fang's ears.

"Would you please get a message to 'Orlando' and tell 'him' to meet me in the stables please?"

"Um..."

"Navali, I'm not going to bust 'him'. I need to give 'him' some advice. Would you send 'him' to the stables please?"

"Er-"

Link walked briskly off in the direction of the stables, drawing up strategies as he went.

******

Orla walked out of the collecting tent a few strides in front of Galahad. The audience cheered her rapturously, all of them hoping that she beat this bully. She felt her stomach turn somersaults as she realised just how many extra people this match had attracted, and with a pang of anger realised that it wasn't her they'd come to see.

They all wanted to see what Galahad would do next.

Scowling, she glanced back over her shoulder at the boy, realising that he wasn't even in the slightest bit intimidated.

Her father's words came back to her as she took up her position opposite him, wooden sword at the ready. He'd been leaning against the door to Epona's stable, feeding the mare a carrot.

"You wanted to see me, Your Highness?" she had asked, dropping her voice and trying to act as unlike her as possible by scratching her behind.

Link looked up and laughed.

"Sweetheart, you're really a sight for sore eyes dressed like that! Your mother nearly had a heart attack."

Orla jumped.

"She knows?"

Her father nodded.

"Don't worry, she thinks it's great," he lied.

Well, Orla certainly didn't get the cross dressing gene from him.__

"Really?" Orla asked sceptically.

"No," Link admitted, "but I do. I've got to talk to you though, about your next fight-"

"Dad please," she protested, "I don't want any advice or help or anything. I'm going to beat him my way-"

"Orla, there's something about Galahad that bothers me and I just want you on your guard. Don't underestimate him."

"Daddy-"

"I'm serious. Don't underestimate him, let _him underestimate __you. I hope that you didn't use everything in that fight against Burl."_

Orla had grinned.

"Don't worry Dad, I've got it covered."

She raised her sword and bowed.

"I'm going to enjoy making you suffer," she murmured.

Galahad smirked, faintly bemused. 

"Keep talking."

"Fight!"

Galahad attacked first, charging at Orla with startling speed and a sure and steady strike. She braced herself as the swords made contact, throwing her weight back against her weapon to keep herself from falling back. Galahad was five years older than her and at least a foot taller than her. She grit her teeth in determination.

"My turn," she announced, leaping forward and bringing her sword diagonally down to meet with his blade.

He regarded her haughtily, fighting back with equal gusto.

"Well met," he said grudgingly, "but not well enough."

"We'll see," Orla grunted.

******

"Give it to him, teach him some manners! Go on, GIVE IT TO HIM!" Navali bellowed.

Nabooru rolled her eyes at the amount of attention her daughter was receiving and shrugged. The girl had to get interested in boys _someday..._

"Come on Orlando, show him what you've got!" Ranlink called from beside the Gerudo. 

Fang stood beside him, her frontpaws balanced against the arena railing, snarling maliciously at Galahad. Her amber eyes were narrowed, her snout wrinkled in hatred, the fur on her hackles bristling as though she was ready to strike. Every once in a while, her teeth would appear as her growl rumbled in her chest.

"What is the matter with that wolf, is she in season or something?" Nabooru asked.

She was met with no reply, although Ran's hand found itself on Fang's shoulders.

There was a sudden uproar from the crowd as Orla tripped on something.

"CHEAT!" Navali hollered.

Orla raised herself angrily from the ground, kicking a clod of dirt away with her boot. The protests died down.

"You shouldn't judge the boy for the mistakes he made in the past," Nabooru scolded her daughter.

Navali snorted indignantly while Ran laughed a bitter laugh.

******

Orla was feeling considerably flustered. No matter how hard she attacked, Galahad was still coming at her and throwing everything that she had back in her face. Now was the time to act.

She crouched low before him, her eyes challenging him to attack her. Galahad laughed.

"That trick again? How stupid do you think I am?"

Orla grinned.

"Stupid enough to think that I'd use the death spiral," she remarked.

Galahad had no time to think as Orla's wooden sword began to buzz.

******

Link tensed, staring at Orla in disbelief.

"No way."

With a sudden yell, his daughter let her attack go, spinning with the force of the Spin Attack. Blue magical waves flew around her, tiny fragments of wood sailing through the air as her sword began to splinter.

Galahad calmly extended his sword and met Orla's blow for blow.

There was a sickening crack.

******

The majority of the wooden sword soared through the air and landed on the ground, a sorry excuse for a weapon. Its wielder regarded it with horrified realisation that perhaps they'd been a little too hasty to act.

And Galahad laughed.

"Wood doesn't conduct magic very well, or didn't your father tell you that?"

Orla looked up from her broken blade in confusion.

"What?"

Without waiting another second, Galahad strode across the arena and ripped the head scarf from Orla's head. A gasp of surprise, followed by a stunned silence filled the air as everyone stared at the little girl in shock. The red fabric fluttered to the ground in the breeze.

"I said, didn't your father tell you that magical sword attacks are useless with wood, Princess?"

He spat the last word so scornfully that Orla felt cold.

"And now, I'll beat you in front of everybody."

His sword effortlessly battered Orla's from her grasp, the force knocking her back onto her behind. There was a collective chorus of protest from the rest of the crowd, followed by angry hisses. Orla stared straight ahead at Galahad, barely noticing anything else until Fang leapt over the crowd barrier and cannonballed across the field, standing guard over her mistress. The she-wolf snarled viciously, every nerve tensed and ready to snap should she be provoked.

Galahad extended his hand and, much to Fang's dislike, reached out to help the fallen princess to her feet. She growled loudly in protest, even though Orla accepted the boy's assistance.

No point in being a sore loser.

The applause was thin as the pair walked from the arena, Orla's cheeks burning with embarrassment as she became the major spectacle of the day. From the corner of her eye she caught sight of Nabooru attempting to restrain Navali who had drawn her scimitar. Orla rolled her eyes and stroked Fang absent-mindedly, causing her to look lovingly upwards at her before she growled at Galahad for good measure. The princess smiled slightly and then shot a reassuring smile at her friends before glancing over her shoulder at the Royal Box. Her mother stood applauding her, little Zak imitating her while her grandfather looked extremely puzzled. She wondered briefly where her father was.

Until she saw him applauding her from the collecting tent, looking proudly at her with a smile on his face.

******

The final battle came and went, and to no-one's great surprise it turned out to be the reigning champion Feon against Galahad. After a not particularly spectacular battle, Galahad unsurprisingly defeated Feon easily. Orla sat bravely throughout the contest, although she was painfully aware of all eyes on her, waiting to see her response. Zelda was proud to note that her daughter hardly flinched when Galahad landed the winning blow. She reached an unseen hand across to squeeze Orla's, which earned her a small smile of appreciation.

King Harkinian cleared his throat.

"Congratulations Galahad, that was a commendable victory," he announced with his well projected voice.

There was a spattering of applause.

"I hereby award you with this medal and a seat to my left this evening at the victory ban-"

Galahad had raised his hand in protest and stopped the king short.

"With all due respect Your Majesty, I don't want either of those things."

There was an angry murmur from the crowd, with snatches of 'rude little-' and other things audible in the half silence.

"Well," Harkinian began again, a little more slowly, "what do you want?"

Galahad stared straight ahead of him, beyond the King to the seat beside Zelda.

"I'd like a duel with the Prince."

"Link?" Harkinian asked in surprise, before chuckling to himself.

There was a loud outburst of laughter from everyone assembled, and Galahad himself joined in the mirth.

Three people didn't, however.

Orla knew from that same stony look worn by the boy that had given her earlier that there was no humour in his challenge. He was deadly serious, in spite of the laughter he was now involved in. 

The challenge was still there in his eyes.

And her parents saw it too.

ENDEFFERA - THE END

Well ladies and gents, that was the end of Endeffera. And I realise that it's almost taken me _a whole year _to write, but hopefully it was worth it. I have to say, I didn't enjoy writing this as much as Heroes of Hyrule, but then again it was much darker. The next enstallment will hopefully be a little more exciting, as it's going to have everything- swords, sorcery, angst, romance, comedy and the appearence of an old friend who we all thought we'd seen the back of...

And for Venus- lots of Ranlink and Navali, who are certainly going to be verrrry good friends...

And what about Orla? Have I tortured her enough yet? Hell no! Not quite as badly as she's been tortured already, but then again what can be worse than dying for a second time? Hmm...

Thank you all very much for your reviews throughout this venture, and I'm happy to say that the next instalment isn't going to be quite so dark/gloomy/morbid as this one was (and let me tell you, some bits were not easy to write *coughcoughkillingOrlacough*)

Tradition demands it, so here it is, the snippet from Blood of the Hero!

_"You're going to go and see him again, aren't you?"_

_Orla jumped as she caught sight of Izak, standing by his bedroom door in his nightshirt and staring at her accusingly. Worse still, Navali was by his side, looking at her with disappointment painted across her face._

_"Of course not, I'm going for a walk," she countered._

_Zak raised an eyebrow and folded his arms across his chest, looking worryingly like their mother._

_"I'm not ignorant, I know that you're going to warn that scumball about Dad."_

_"You know, I don't have to justify my actions to a kid, perceptive or not," she growled, storming past him._

"Wake up Orla and open your eyes!" Navali cried. "Your brother nearly died, and you're protecting the very person that hurt him! Do you know what this is doing to your family? Kora won't stop crying, she's sitting on Kael's bed crying right now, and try as she might Ama can't get her to stop. Your mother hasn't moved from Kael's side all day, I've never seen her so worried. And Kael, has it even occurred to you that if that bastard had been two inches taller that you would have lost your brother?"

_Orla turned her back to them, biting her lip as she did to stop the tears from threatening._

_"Yeah, it hurts to hear the truth, doesn't it?" Zak growled. "If you love anyone in this family, then you'll let Dad cut him to pieces."_

_"How can you suggest that I don't love my family?" Orla cried. "Zak, do you have any idea what you just said?"_

_"Then why," Navali asked softly, "are you protecting him?"_

Right, I'm off to lose myseslf in Hogwarts for a few hours. Thank you very much and goodnight!


End file.
